Namine's Grace
by Dartz the Fire Demon
Summary: Namine has just transferred to Twilight Town High School, a private school her cousin Kairi is attending. When she meets Kairi's friends and possible love interests, will she be sucked into the drama of high school life?
1. New School

Namine's Grace: a Kingdom Hearts fanfic

Summary: Namine has just transferred to Twilight Town High School, where her cousin Kairi is attending. When she meets new friends, will she be sucked into the drama of high school life? Read and find out.

Me: I've had this idea running around in my head for the past few days. Figured I'd go ahead and start working on it. I hope you guys like it. Pairings are NaminexRoxas, KairixSora, RikuxXion, and OCxOC. There might be others later, but for now those are the main ones. The story is told from Namine's POV unless otherwise noted.

Chapter 1: New School

"We're here, honey." My mom, Aerith, said as the car came to a slow stop in front of the gate of hell. I was silent as my parents got out of the car and began to unload my bags from the trunk. I was surprised when the door opened and my dad, Cloud, opened the door and handed me my backpack. My parents, for some still-unknown reason, had decided to send me to Twilight Town High School. One more thing, it was a boarding school. I pleaded that they let me stay at my old school, but they stood by their decision. The one silver lining I found to going here was that my cousin Kairi, who was more like a sister to me, was also enrolled here, so at least I wouldn't be completely alone.

"C'mon, Nami." He said. "We need to get you registered and settled in before noon, remember?"

"Good, so I only have to sit here four more hours." I said angrily. My father sighed.

"Namine, we've been over this. If you don't get out of the car, I'll drag you out and carry you into the office over my shoulder. And I highly doubt you want all of your new classmates to see that, now would you?" I let out a built up sigh and shook my head. "Alright, then. Come on." I slowly dragged myself out of the car and slung my backpack over my shoulder. My mom put a hand on my shoulder.

"You'll be fine, honey. Twilight Town High School is one of the best schools in the state. Plus Kairi is going here as well, remember?"

"I guess." I said. They led me through the open gates and the empty courtyard. I looked at my watch. 8:13 AM. Most everyone would either be at breakfast or in their dorms asleep. I was glad that I didn't have to worry about them seeing me being dragged around by my parents. I followed said parents into the administration office, and a secretary looked up as we walked through the door and smiled.

"You must be Namine Locke." The secretary said. I nodded, but remained silent. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Namine." I managed a small smile.

"Thank you." The secretary nodded and rooted through a drawer in her desk until she found what she was looking for.

"Here you are, one key and schedule. You will be in room 729, seventh floor. Your roommate is Xion Martin. Classes start Tuesday." I nodded and managed to give the secretary another smile.

"Thank you, Miss." My dad said, shaking her hand.

"Oh, please. Call me Stephanie. I hate all that formal stuff." My parents smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for helping us, Stephanie." My mom said.

"No problem. Oh, and Namine, if you ever need any help don't hesitate to ask. I'll be around."

"I'll remember that." I said.

"We'd better get you up to your room, kiddo."

"Okay. Thank you again, Stephanie." The secretary smiled.

"Any time." She said. "Now scoot along, curfew is in an hour." My parents and I left the administration building and crossed the courtyard towards the dorm building. We loaded my bags into one of the elevators and I held the door open with my foot while I said goodbye to my parents.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" my mom asked as she hugged me goodbye.

"No, I'll be fine. Kairi said she'd meet me at the elevators to help me get my stuff to my room."

"Okay, then. Tell her we said hi." My dad then took his turn to hug me.

"Don't worry, Nami." He said. "You'll get used to the new school in no time."

"I know." I said. "Next time how about asking my consent." My dad laughed.

"Will do. Now go on. You don't want to keep Kairi waiting."

"Alright. I'll see you guys at the Christmas party, right?"

"Of course. We wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Good bye, sweetie." My mom said as she followed my dad towards the door. "I hope you have fun."

"Bye." I said. I waved until they were out the door, and then finally entered the elevator with the last of my bags. I pressed the button for the seventh floor and waited until the doors finally opened into a brightly lit hallway. I could make out a red-haired girl with a white tank top and purple shorts sitting in the lounge across from the elevator talking to a brunette with an orange shirt and beige cargo pants. They both looked up when the elevator dinged and the redhead smiled.

"Hey there, Nami." She said. I suddenly recognized this girl to be my cousin Kairi.

"Hi Kai." I replied with a giggle. Kairi immediately began helping me remove my bags from the elevator until we had made a small pile next to the lounge door. I finally removed my foot from the door and allowed the elevator to close.

"It's so great that you're finally here. I haven't seen you since the reunion last July."

"I'm glad I'm finally here. It was a long drive from Traverse Town." Kairi smiled.

"Well, you're here now. Let's get you settled in." The brunette she had been talking to earlier walked up to us and smiled.

"Hi." She said. "You must be Namine. Kairi's told me so much about you."

"Oh, sorry. I haven't introduced you yet. Namine, this is my roommate, Olette. Olette, this is my cousin Namine." Olette smiled and held out her hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Namine." I took her hand and shook it.

"Likewise." I said. "Kairi's told me a bit about you, as well."

"So what room are you in?" Kairi asked. I rooted through my backpack until I found my room number.

"729."

"Awesome. You're right next to us."

"Really? Great!"

"Come on." Olette said. "We'll help you get settled in." Olette, Kairi, and I picked up my bags and walked through a door into a more dimly lit hallway. Kairi led us down a few doors until we reached one labeled 729.

"Here we are." Kairi said. She tried the door and found it unlocked. The three of us carried my bags inside and piled them on the bed that wasn't taken up by a mass of blankets.

"Wow." I said in surprise as I took in the room. There were two twin-sized beds situated on opposite sides of the room, two chests of drawers, and two desks. One of the desks had a laptop and a book on it, while one of the drawers had a stereo seated on top. There was also a TV set up on the wall in between the two beds. It looked like Xion wasn't here, though. Suddenly a door opened behind us and a short, black-haired girl walked out of the bathroom in a pair of camouflage cargo pants and a black hoodie. When the girl noticed us she jumped up in surprise.

"Oh!" She said. "I didn't hear you come in. You must be my new roommate." I smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I'm Namine. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Xion. Same here." Xion walked over to the claimed bed and sat down on it. "So, who're your friends?"

"This is my cousin Kairi and her roommate Olette. They live right next door." She suddenly seemed to recognize them.

"Oh, right. You're Axel's sister, aren't you?" Kairi looked surprised.

"Yeah, I am." She said. "How do you know Axel?"

"I hang out with him and his group. He talks about you sometimes. You're a lot prettier than he makes you out to be, though."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Axel can't resist messing with me whenever the opportunity arises."

" I know that feeling. He does the same thing to me."

"Wait, Axel's here too?" I asked. "I thought he quit school." Kairi shook her head.

"Nope." She said. "That big lug is still going. He really wants that degree in pyrotechnics."

"He's still obsessed with fire?"

"Yep. He started carrying a lighter in his pocket everywhere he goes."

"He must be a lot of fun at parties." Olette said sarcastically.

"Oh, he is." Xion said. "The only way he'd be more fun is if he got drunk at one. Luckily that isn't going to happen any time soon."

"If my brother ever gets drunk I'm gonna beat him to a pulp." Kairi said. "Anyway, we should probably let you unpack. If you need any help you know where to find us." Kairi and Olette left, leaving me to unpack my bags.

"Do you need any help?" Xion asked.

"Sure." I said. "I could use it." After a couple of hours Xion and I finally managed to get my bags unpacked and my possessions put where I wanted them. Xion sighed in exhaustion and flopped onto her bed.

"What is it with girls and clothes? I've never owned that much in my life." I couldn't help but laugh at the comment.

"I'm on the better end of the spectrum. You should see Kairi. She probably has drawers overflowing with stuff." Xion smiled and laughed as well. Suddenly her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She pulled her phone out and looked at it before answering.

"Hey, Xeno…uh huh…alright, I'm on my way." Her gaze shifted to me for a second. "Hey, do you think it'd be okay for me to bring a friend along? Sweet. We'll be there in ten." She hung up and looked at me. "Come on. We're gonna go have lunch with my friends."

"Why do you want me to come?" Xion's smile widened.

"Like I'm gonna leave my new roommate alone on her first day here. Now come on. We're gonna be late."

"Alright…" I followed Xion out of our dorm, making sure to lock the door behind me. We rode the elevator down to the third floor and walked out into a deserted hallway. "Shouldn't we be going to the cafeteria for lunch?"

"No, my friends and I eat lunch in the third floor lounge. My friend Demyx plays the sitar and he works as an entertainer in a cafe down the street. They pay him by giving him enough food for a king's feast. We eat lunch off of that every day."

"Sounds like an interesting place to work."

"Trust me, it is. I've been to a few of his performances. He's a natural." Xion led me into the lounge, where we found six other people, presumably Xion's friends, with a rainbow of hair colors sitting around. As I took in each face I noticed Axel sitting on a windowsill. I ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Well, hello to you too, cuz." Axel said with a short laugh. I looked at the other people in the room to find everyone staring at me with varying levels of interest.

"Everyone, this is my new roommate, Namine." Xion introduced as she dragged me away from Axel. "Namine, these are my friends, also known as Organization XIII." I waved slightly.

"Hi." I said. Everyone was still staring at me and it was really starting to creep me out.

"So, where's Demyx?"

"On his way." A blond man who looked like he could be in his late forties said. "Number XIII went to pick him up."

"Vexen, why do you insist on calling all of us by our numbers?" a gray-haired boy said, though he seemed to be more interested in his book than the conversation.

"Because, Number VI, we are an official organization, and as such, I believe we should address each other in an official manner." Vexen said, glaring at the boy.

"Vexen, just leave it." A black haired boy with his long hair tied into a ponytail and an eye patch over his right eye said. "No one else is going to do that, so you shouldn't either."

"I agree with Xigbar." The only other girl in the room besides Xion and I said. A blond boy with strange earrings and a short beard suddenly got up and walked over to us.

"Allow me to apologize for my colleagues' uninteresting conversation." The man said. He held out his hand. "My name is Luxord." I shook his hand and he smiled. "It is very nice to meet you, Namine."

"T-thanks, I think." I said hesitantly. At least this one was being nice and introducing himself. Axel started laughing suddenly and we both looked at him like he was crazy.

"Don't bother, Luxord." He said through his laughter. "You know as well as I do those stiffs aren't going to follow your lead." Luxord nodded, but continued to smile.

"Oh, I know that well enough." He said. "But you can't blame a guy for trying."

"Well, I think I'll prove both of you wrong." The gray-haired boy said. He finally closed his book and looked at me, but didn't get up. "I'm Zexion, known to Vexen and _only _Vexen as Number VI."

"Are we really gonna bring that up again?" Xigbar asked. "We'll let Vexen do what he wants, and we'll do what we want. Everyone is happy."

"Works for me." Xion said. "Though I would like to be called something other than 'it'for once."

"You know Vexen is the only one who calls you 'it,' Xion." Axel said.

"I know, but it gets annoying after a while." A blonde boy with his short hair styled into a mullet walked into the lounge carrying several bags of food.

"Alright, guys." The mullet-haired boy said. "Grub's on." The boy sat the bags on a table in the kitchen area and moved out of the way as everyone attacked the bags, taking anything they could grab. Xion was back by my side a second later holding two bags of fried chicken.

"Here, I got you some. I hope you like fried chicken." Once everyone was finally settled, the newcomer finally noticed me sitting next to Xion, eating my chicken quietly.

"Hey, you must be the new chick Xeno said Xion was bringing." The mullet boy said. "Namine, right?" I looked at him in surprise.

"How did you know my name?" I asked. I knew Xion hadn't given this Xeno guy my name, so it was near impossible that he would know it.

"Axel talks about you all the time. He says you're his favorite cousin."

"Shut up, Demyx." Axel said.

"I'm Axel's favorite?" I looked over at Axel, who was staring at the ground. I giggled and returned to my food. "I always had a feeling anyway."

"Well, you're sure cocky all of a sudden."

"Why wouldn't I be? I just found out that I'm your favorite cousin, plus I got free chicken. I'm already starting to like this school."

"And you're only going to come to like it more." Xigbar said. "Especially if you continue to hang out with us."

"Are you even young enough to go to this school?" the blond girl asked. "You look like you're in your thirties, at the very least." Xigbar glared at the girl for a second, then smiled again, realizing she was joking.

"As if, Larxene. I'm only 17. I just look old for my age. Unlike Mr. Official over here who really is in his thirties." He gestured to Vexen, who had been examining a biscuit he had gotten out of the basket on the table in the middle of the couches we were sitting on.

"Yeah, why are you here, Vexen?" Xion asked. "We don't need a babysitter."

"According to the superior you do." Vexen said, still not looking up from the biscuit.

"Yeah, well, the superior can go screw himself." Axel mumbled. Everyone except Vexen and I started laughing. Even Zexion chuckled a bit at the joke.

"Aww, come on, Vex." Demyx pressed, slapping the old blonde on his back. "Loosen up. It's okay to have a laugh at Xemnas's expense every once in a while."

"Yeah, shut it." Vexen said angrily. "I'm out of here." With that Vexen got up and left.

"What's got his panties in a bunch?" Larxene asked. "And I thought I was the blonde chick here."

"That man needs to get laid." Luxord said, sounding dead serious. "Seriously." Everyone laughed again, and I couldn't help but join in this time.

This is a new story I started working on a few days ago. Please tell me what you guys think. Flames will be accepted, but they will also be used to cook hot dogs so don't bother sending them. I might not update this story very much since I'm still working on Memories of the Past, but I might dabble in it every once in a while if I know people enjoy it.


	2. Meeting Roxas

Chapter 2: Meeting Roxas

We were all silent for a few minutes as we continued to eat our lunch. Axel was the first to speak and break the silence.

"Man, where are they?" he asked.

"No idea, man." Demyx responded. "Roxas said he'd be up in a minute, but that was like ten minutes ago." I turned to Xion.

"Who are we waiting for?" I asked.

"Our other friends, Roxas and Xeno. Speaking of which, wasn't Xeno here when he called me?"

"He was," Luxord said. "But he had to take care of something." A boy with short black hair walked up behind Xion, but she didn't seem to notice. I looked around at the others, but all of them gave me the vaguest headshake they possibly could. Xigbar and Luxord were even smiling.

"Why, are you worried he's found someone else?" Xigbar teased. I could see Xion's face redden at the comment, but she shook her head vigorously.

"N-no, I just thought he might actually like to join us for lunch."

"Well, I would've been happy to if you guys had waited another five minutes." The boy, obviously Xeno, said. Xion jumped a foot in the air and turned to glare at him.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough." Xeno winked, causing Xion's face to grow redder. Xeno sat down on the couch next to Axel and sighed in content. "Man, Seifer is being a real pain in the ass today."

"What's that beanie wearing bully up to this time?" Larxene asked. Xeno shrugged.

"Who knows? He was flirting with Olette again, but she slapped him into next week. Highlight of the day if you ask me." Xigbar and Larxene burst out laughing, while everyone else smiled and tried to hold in their own laughs.

"He had that coming." Zexion said. "Probably deserves a few from Larxene and Xion, too."

"I've already paid him back plenty of times over." Larxene said. "You guys remember that black eye he had last week?" Everyone nodded. "Courtesy of yours truly." Axel nodded approvingly.

"Good job." he said. "I just wish I'd been there to do it myself."

"You could always give him one to match that red cheek he'll have for the next few days." Luxord suggested. Axel smirked.

"I might just do that."

"Who's Seifer?" I asked Xion.

"Seifer is the son of some small time fight coach." Xion responded. "He's the definition of a ladies' man and he intimidates and beats up weaker people to get what he wants."

"You forgot to mention the fact that he's a complete and utter asshole." Xigbar said.

"Yeah, that too."

"Well, hopefully we'll be spared from his asshole-like tendencies for a few days." Axel said. "Seifer won't show himself in public until his cheek is healed."

"We can always hope, but we all know how well Seifer can take a punch." Xeno said. He stole one of Xion's chicken wings and ripped some of the meat off it. Xion glared at him, but didn't move to take back the stolen food.

"Not as well as he might like." Demyx said through a mouth full of fries. "He still couldn't beat any of us in a fight." Larxene faked a gag and glared at the mullet-haired boy.

"Chew with your mouth closed, would you?" she asked. The lounge door opened and a second blond- haired boy walked into the room. His hair was styled into spikes that protruded from his head in every possible direction. I noticed his eyes; a deep shade of blue that seemed to stare into your very soul with kindness. He caught my gaze and held it for what felt to me like forever before I was forced to turn away to hide my blush.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Xigbar said. "Decided to get into a little tussle with an ant, did you? Looks to me like the ant won." I then noticed the bruise that was dominant on his right cheek, but the boy didn't seem to care about it. The blonde glared at him with annoyance.

"Yes, I did finally decided to show up." he said. "And I'll have you know the fight was with a blade of grass. Those things can be vicious." Xigbar and the boy both suddenly burst out laughing, like some kind of inside joke was being shared between them. "But really, I actually got into a fight with Rai. He got pissed when Hayner tried to stop him from attacking Pence and I had to step in. Took a couple punches, but Rai's much worse for wear."

"I would hope so." Zexion said. "We didn't teach you how to fight just so you could get pummeled by that big ape."

"When did he get promoted to ape?" Axel asked. "I thought he was still on punching bag level."

"Nah, that's Setzer." Xion said. "Rai can at least throw a punch."

"True."

"So, did anyone save me some food?" Roxas asked.

"No, but you can always steal some from Xion." Xeno said. Xion glared daggers at him.

"You touch my food, you lose every appendage you touch it with." Xeno raised his eyebrow and held out his hand to Xion.

"I suppose I'm supposed to lose a few fingers then, aren't I?" Xion mumbled something I couldn't hear and went back to eating her chicken. Roxas plopped down onto a sofa next to Luxord and grabbed a biscuit to eat. We sat in silence for a few minutes while everyone finished eating. As soon as Demyx had finished his last mouthful of chocolate pudding, Zexion slammed his book shut and stood up.

"Alright, people. We have places to be. Let's move." Everyone else in the room stood up while I stayed sitting in confusion.

"I thought classes didn't start until Tuesday?" I said.

"They don't." Axel responded. "We've got our own stuff to do in our free time."

"Actually, if you guys don't mind, I'll just take Namine back up to our room." Xion said. "Kairi'll probably want her to hang out with her and Olette this afternoon. I'll meet you guys at the gym."

"Alright." Xigbar said. "We'll see ya there, Poppet." He led everyone out of the room, Roxas being the last one to leave. I caught his gaze one last time as he closed the door behind him and felt that infernal blush reappear on my face.

"You like him, don't you?" I looked up at Xion in shock.

"What? Who?" I asked. I didn't realize how stupid the question was until it had already left my mouth.

"Roxas, obviously. Every time you look at him your face gets red." I could feel the blush on my face deepen as she spoke. "Just like that."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah. I don't think any of the others saw it though, so your secret's safe with me. At least until you decide to come clean. Now c'mon. Your cousin's already waiting for us."

A/N: Sorry about the long time with no updates, everyone. Junior year has been super busy and senior year isn't looking much better, so this may be the rate of updating for all of my stories for a while. Also, if anyone wanted to know, all my information on Xeno is now on my profile for public view since he has now been revealed. He will be officially introduced as an OC in a future story. Xeno's name is pronounced with the X making a Z sound, so it would be pronounced "Zeenoh."


	3. Shopping with Kairi

Chapter 3: Shopping with Kairi

About 5 minutes after Xion and I left the third floor lounge, we were standing in front of Kairi and Olette's door. I knocked lightly, wondering if they were even inside. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and no one in their right mind would want to stay inside on a day like today…

"They, Nami." Kairi said after she opened the door. …Except, apparently, for Kairi. "I'm glad you're here. Olette and I were just about to go meet our friends and go shopping and we wanted you to come along, so we could show you the city." I thought for a second, and then nodded.

"Okay." I said with a smile. "I'll join you."

"Awesome. Grab anything you need and let's get going." Kairi turned to the raven-haired girl behind me. "You're free to join us as well if you want, Xion." Xion smiled and shook her head.

"No thanks." she replied. "I've got plans with Axel and the others. Maybe next time." Xion waved and walked down the hall to the elevator, leaving me with my cousin and her roommate.

"Do you need anything before we go?" Kairi asked me. I checked my pockets, ensuring my cell phone, room key, and wallet were there. I chose to carry everything I needed in my pants pockets rather than carrying the unneeded weight of a purse around with me everywhere I went.

"No," I said. "I think I've got everything."

"Okay, let's go!" Kairi ran from her room, dragging her off balance roommate behind her, who barely managed to shut the door before she was jerked towards the elevator. Olette gave me a pleading look, likely asking me to save her, as she was dragged on the heels of her shoes across the carpeted hallways. I simply giggled and followed a safe distance so as to not fall to the same fate as Kairi's roommate, stopping for a moment to ensure that my dorm was locked. Kairi finally released Olette's arm once we reached the elevator. Once the elevator arrived we got in and took it to the ground floor, where we exited and left the dorm building. I followed Kairi and Olette, or rather, Olette and I followed Kairi, as we headed for the school gates.

"Is she always like this?" I asked Olette as Kairi walked at least twenty paces in front of us, obviously in a hurry.

"Pretty much." Olette giggled. "She's really excited to see Sora."

"Who's Sora?"

"He's one of our friends. You'll know him when you see him. He's got brown hair that defies gravity. He and Kairi have gotten really close over the summer. I think they might start going out soon."

"Kairi? With a boyfriend? That I'd like to see." I rolled by eyes, knowing that few guys would be willing to deal with Kairi's occasional immaturity, especially when it came to shopping. She could empty a guy's wallet in a matter of seconds on one of her less expensive days.

"Sora's family is really rich, so money's no issue for him." Olette stated, predicting my reasoning. "And he's got no problem buying her whatever she wants."

"Wow. This guy may actually be good for her."

"We think they'd be really good together." Olette agreed.

"I can't wait to meet him so I can tell him what he's getting himself into."

"You guys do know I can hear you talking back there, don't you?" Kairi called over her shoulder. We stopped talking but continued to giggle to ourselves until we finally reached the front gates. There were three other people waiting there who waved us over when we got within earshot.

"Hey, guys." Kairi and Olette greeted simultaneously.

"Hey, girls." a silver-haired boy greeted. "What took you so long?"

"I wanted to invite my cousin to go with us to the mall." Kairi replied, gesturing to me. "This is Namine. Namine, these are our friends." I recognized Sora from Olette's description almost immediately. The silver-haired boy was introduced as Riku, whom I noticed had a cast on his left hand. He explained that he had broken his wrist a week before in a skateboarding accident. A dirty-blond haired boy with a gray shirt and camouflage cargo pants was introduced as Hayner. He had a small bruise on his left cheek, probably from the fight Roxas had mentioned when he walked in. There was also a slightly overweight boy named Pence whose black hair was held up by a thick headband and wore jeans, a red jersey with some logo I'd never seen before and a white long sleeved shirt. (Think outfits from Kingdom Hearts 2)

"Alright, everyone!" Kairi said once we had been introduced. "Let's head to the mall before all the shops close!" Everyone reluctantly agreed and we headed off towards what I guessed was downtown, Kairi and Sora walking far ahead of the rest of us, talking excitedly about something.

"Man, why did I let you guys drag me into this." Pence said after about an hour of walking from store to store at the mall. He was walking behind the rest of us, carrying about half a dozen bags of Kairi's recent buys. He had nothing himself, since he didn't have any munny. I offered to buy him something, but he instantly, yet politely, refused.

"C'mon, Pence." Hayner said. "You need the exercise. All you ever do all day is play with your camera or your laptop. It's good to get out every once in a while, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." By the end of our shopping spree Kairi and Sora were carrying four bags of purchases each in addition to the eight Pence was now carrying, all of which were Kairi's. Sora had chosen to buy nothing for himself, but Kairi used her own money to buy Sora a silver necklace with a crown pendent. Olette was carrying two bags and Hayner was carrying one bag and a box with a new skateboard in it. I had two bags from an art store we had passed along the way, which carried a stack of sketchbooks, three boxes of pencils, and a box of colored pencils. Riku only had one bag, which held a pink and green soccer ball that he claimed was a present for his sister, whose birthday was next Thursday. On our way out of the mall we passed four kids who looked strangely familiar. I turned around to get a second look and saw Xion, walking backwards, talking to a tall redhead who could only be Axel.

"Xion!" I called, waving my hands to catch her attention. Xion looked over Axel's shoulder, smiled, and waved back. She said something to the tall redhead and ran past him over to me. Axel and the other two, who I now recognized to be Roxas and Xeno, followed close behind her.

"Hey, Namine." Xion said once she reached me. "How's the shopping trip going?" I laughed.

"Not bad." I waved my hand behind me at my cousin and her friends, who had stopped to wait for me. "See? I told you Kairi had too many clothes for her own good." Xion stared at the bags in Kairi, Sora, and Pence's arms.

"How can you possibly have that much stuff?" Xion asked.

"That's my little sis for ya." Axel said with a smirk. "If it involves shopping, she's number 1."

"When it comes to something like this, I think number two is satisfactory." Roxas said. When he spoke up I couldn't help but look into his hypnotic eyes for the second time that day. Roxas glanced at me and smiled. "Hey, I'm Roxas." He held out his hand. "I saw you at lunch today but I didn't catch your name." I smiled and took his hand.

"I'm Namine." I said. "It's nice to meet you Roxas."

"Oh, yeah. You're Xixi's new roommate." I looked at my roommate.

"Xixi?" Xion frowned and shook her head.

"It's their nickname for me." she said. "I keep telling them to stop calling me that, but they do it just because it annoys me."

"We've been calling her Xixi since the four of us met back in 4th grade." Xeno said. He threw his arm over Xion's shoulders and pulled her close to him so she couldn't move. "Old habits are hard to break, you know." I couldn't help but giggle at the look Xion gave the taller boy.

"So where are you guys headed anyway?" Axel asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Probably back to the school." Olette said. "We have to help Kairi unpack all of her new clothes, after all."

"Where are you going?" I asked. "I thought you guys were doing something in the gym?"

"We were, and we did." Roxas replied. "We got finished a little while ago. And Xigbar gave us the rest of the day to ourselves."

"As if he's our boss, which he isn't." Axel muttered.

"Alright, well we should go." Kairi said. "We need to get back before curfew." I looked at my watch and noticed it was already 7:30, and curfew was at 8 sharp.

"Oh, yeah. We do need to get going." I said.

"I'll be along in a while." Xion said, waving. "We've got some stuff to do before we head back." The groups went their separate ways, Xion, Axel, Roxas, and Xeno heading towards the mall while we headed back to the school.

A/N: I would like to personally dedicate this chapter to soluvepink, the first reviewer of Namine's Grace. Her review gave me the inspiration to begin this chapter last night, even though it was almost 3 in the morning, and I finished it at 11 in the evening. I know there wasn't much NaminexRoxas in this chapter. It's more of a filler chapter to get to a few more important points in the story. Also managed to get a little SoraxKairi in, so I think this chapter went rather well. I hope everyone likes it!


	4. The First Night

Chapter 4: The First Night

Two hours after we returned from the mall we finally managed to get Kairi's new wardrobe in her drawers and closet. Since boys were not allowed in the girls' dorm after curfew, Sora, Hayner, Riku, and Pence returned to their own dorm building, leaving me to help Kairi and Olette rescue their room from the piles of new clothes.

"Kairi, from now on you're only allowed to buy _one _outfit per trip to the mall, got it?" Olette said through her heavy breathing.

"Agreed." I said.

"Alright, fine." Kairi, who seemed to be completely unfazed by the heavy work we had just finished, said. "It's not that hard to deal with once you get used to it."

"That's the problem, Kairi." Olette said. "We'll _never_ be used to it." A knock came to the door and Kairi got up from where she was sitting on her bed and opened it, revealing Xion on the other side.

"Hey," Xion said. "Have you guys seen Namine? She's not in our room."

"I'm right here!" I shouted, having finally returned my breathing patterns to normal, but still unable to talk at full volume. I got up from the chair I was seated in and joined Kairi at the door. "Sorry, I was helping the queen of shopping sprees here put her new stuff away."

"Alright. Just letting you know, our DA is coming around in about 10 minutes to check rooms, and if anyone isn't in their assigned room they have detention."

"Okay, I'm coming. Just let me grab my stuff really quick." I went back into the room and grabbed my two bags of clothes before joining Xion in the hallway. "Thanks for letting me hang out with you and your friends today, Kai."

"Any time." Kairi said. "And they aren't my friends. They're _our_ friends." I smiled and said goodbye to my cousin and her roommate before following Xion back to our room. We walked in to find Larxene, the blond girl from lunch, sprawled out on Xion's bed.

"What brings you here?" Xion asked. Larxene looked up at us and smirked.

"Just getting away from my roommate for a bit." She said. "She's having a two hour phone call with her boyfriend again and it's starting to get a little too mushy for my taste."

"Who's your roommate?" I asked. Xion and I had taken a seat on my bed, seeing as Larxene was not likely to relinquish her spot any time soon. Larxene was silent for a second before she spoke up.

"Her name's Sulfur or something like that. I don't see her much so I never bothered memorizing her name."

"You mean Selphie?" Xion asked with a laugh.

"That's the one. She's dating some guy named Tidal and the two of them are way too gushy for me to handle for more than a few minutes."

"Tidus." Xion said immediately. "He's in my Biology class." Larxene waved it off.

"Whatever. Anyway, I'm just letting her finish her phone call without being interrupted by my having to lose my dinner, if you get my drift." Suddenly a brunette wearing a yellow dress burst into the room.

"Larxene, the DA is coming," the girl said. "We've gotta go." Larxene looked at the girl and sighed.

"Alright, Selphie. I'm coming." She stood up from the bed and headed for the door, where Selphie had already disappeared. "See you tomorrow, Xion. And Namine," I looked up at the girl. "Feel free to join us for lunch whenever you want."

"Thanks, Larxene." I said. She turned and walked out the door, waving behind her as she went. Xion took the opportunity to retake her now empty bed while I got up and closed the door before returning to my bed. I lay down on said bed, exhausted from an afternoon of shopping.

"So," Xion started, in order to get my attention. "How was your first day?'"

"A little confusing to tell you the truth. I don't know how I'll ever figure out the entire campus. It's huge."

"Well, what classes do you have? Maybe I can set up an escort with some of the Organization." I pulled my schedule out of my pocket and handed it to her, a feat that was made difficult by the position of the beds, and she looked at it. "Cool, we have almost all of the same classes. The only one you don't have with me is English with Mrs. Brooks, and Xeno and Roxas both have that class. Oh, I think Xeno and Roxas are in all of your classes."

"Good, I'm glad I'll at least know someone in my classes. What about the others?"

"Zexion has a few classes with us, but he already has most of the credits he needs to graduate so half of his school day is study hall. The others are all juniors so they don't have any classes with us. Except for Vexen who's just a stalker." We both laughed at the expense of the old man. Xion's phone suddenly started ringing from her bedside table, which she picked up and answered. "Hello? Oh hey, Marluxia. Where were you today? You missed practice. Uh huh. Yeah. Okay, sure. Umm… try the one on the left. Got it? Cool, I'll see you later then. Bye." She shut the phone and placed it back on the table.

"Who was that?"

"Marluxia. He's our number XI. He wasn't at lunch today because he was busy finishing some homework. You'll probably meet him Thursday. He's got Biology with you."

"What about tomorrow?"

"We're free for the rest of the week. The Organization resumes training next Saturday, so we won't be eating lunch together until then."

"Oh, alright." A knock came from the other side of the bathroom door, which made both of us jump in surprise. The door opened and Kairi poked her head into our room.

"Hey, Namine!" she greeted. "I just found out we share the same bathroom!" Xion looked at my cousin like she'd grown a second head.

"And you had to nearly give us a heart attack because of this?" Xion asked. "Besides, we've shared that bathroom since I moved into this dorm last year."

"I know, I just never thought about that meaning I share it with Nami now too." Kairi walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to my feet.

"Um, Kairi, shouldn't you be in your own room?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I wanted to invite you to go to the pool with us tomorrow. It's the last day the pool's going to be open to students and we want to get our fill before school starts." I thought for a moment before nodding my head.

"Sure, why not. I haven't been swimming in forever." Kairi smiled and turned to look at Xion.

"Of course, you're free to come as well, Xion."

"Yeah, I might as well." Xion said. "I don't have any other plans tomorrow anyway."

"Okay, so I'll chalk down two more for the pool trip tomorrow. See you guys then." Kairi got up and returned to her room through the bathroom.

"Alright, is it just me or was that completely random?"

"A little bit." I agreed. A knock came to the door and I got up and opened it, revealing a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties with a clipboard and pen in her hands.

"Dorm check." the woman said without looking up from the clipboard. "Xion Martin and Namine Locke?"

"Yes, Janine." Xion called. The woman, Janine, glanced up at me from her clipboard and jumped.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice that you were new here. You must be Namine."

"Yes, I am." I confirmed with a nod.

"I'm Janine, the Dorm Advisor for this floor. If you ever need anything I'm in room 278, at the end of the hall on the right."

"Thank you, I'll remember that." Janine smiled and walked away to knock on Kairi's door. I closed the door when she walked away and slumped on my bed for the second time that night. Xion laughed at my groans of pain.

"Oh, come on." the girl said. "Shopping can't be that painful, even if it is with Kairi." I glared at my roommate with half closed eyes.

"Fine, then. Next time she goes shopping why don't you go with her, then tell me it doesn't hurt."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"I didn't think so." We sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Xion got up and stretched.

"Morning or evening?" she asked. I shot her a questioning glance.

"What?"

"Your shower. Do you shower in the morning or evening?"

"Oh, either. When do you and Kairi and Olette shower?"

"I usually shower at night, same with Olette. Kairi showers in the morning, but she takes hours in there."

"Evening, then."

"Good choice. I'll go first, and you can have it after. I think Olette's already done." Xion grabbed some clothes out of her drawers and walked over to the bathroom door. She knocked and waited for a few seconds before entering and closing the door behind her. I heard the shower turn on and a few garbled words between my roommate and our neighbors, then silence. I decided I'd get my things together to shower while I was waiting. I got up, although painfully, and grabbed some stuff I'd need: toothbrush, toothpaste, pajamas, shampoo, body wash, etc. I was just closing my drawer from getting my pajamas out when the water turned off. A minute later Xion walked into the room in a dark green tank top and black sweats while drying her damp hair with a white towel. "There's towels and washcloths in there if you need them."

"Alright, thanks." I grabbed my stuff and walked into the bathroom. It was fairly large, two shower cubicles and two sinks situated next to each other, with a toilet on the opposite wall next to a bath tub, which I made note of the existence of in case I ever felt the need for a bubble bath. I placed my toiletries on the sink and grabbed a towel off the rack hanging over the toilet. I then turned one of the showers on and adjusted it to my desired temperature: warm, but not so much that it burned. I checked that both the doors were locked, as I enjoyed my privacy while I was showering, stripped off my clothes, grabbed my shampoo and body wash, and stepped into the shower, groaning in happiness as I felt the warm water running over my sore muscles. Ten minutes later I reluctantly turned off the water and got out, picking up the towel and drying my body. I threw on my pajamas, a pair of faded blue gym shorts and a white t-shirt. I picked up my discarded clothes and walked back into my room before being stopped by the sheer force of surprise that hit me. I stared, wide eyed, around the room. "What did you do?"

"Just a little redecorating." Xion said with an innocent smile, looking up from her book. The beds had been pushed together in the center of the room with the drawers positioned on the side walls on either side of the beds, with just enough room for someone to walk and open the drawers. Our desks had been pushed next to the drawers and the television was now seated on a third desk, which was placed against the wall next to the door. A Wii, PS3, and XBOX 360 had also appeared and were plugged into the TV.

"A _little_ redecorating? I don't even recognize this room. How did you do this? Those beds and drawers must have been at least 80 pounds!"

"I'm a lot stronger than I look," was all my roommate said. She set down her book and walked over to the television, turning it on along with the 360. I noticed Sonic The Hedgehog loading on the television.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?"

"Why did you move things around?"

"To make us more comfortable now that it's two to the room. You'd be surprised how easily two people can make these rooms feel overly tight. Plus, the school doesn't care, so long as we move everything back before we leave the room at the end of the year." I looked around and noticed that it did look a little roomier.

"And the beds are together because…?"

"Because now we can talk into the night about whatever we want and not have to worry about a thing." I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Xion participating in _girl talk_. "What?"

"Sorry, you just don't strike me as the type to do the whole girl talk thing."

"Well, I do. I just don't seem like it because I've never really had anyone to do it with. Larxene has always been too experienced to talk to about anything, and I don't have any other female friends. At least not until you came." I continued to laugh, but dropped the subject and sat on the floor next to Xion after discarding my clothes in a laundry bag I had sitting under my desk. Xion had just completed a level as Shadow and got an S rank, something I knew to be near impossible.

"Wow, you're really good. I heard it's almost impossible to get S ranks in that game."

"I've had lots of practice. All you need to do is know how to exploit the glitches to your advantage, and the S's come right to you. So, are you a gamer?"

"I've played my fair share of videogames, if that's what you mean."

"Cool. Maybe we can play sometime. Are you any good at Super Smash Brothers Brawl?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm a beast at that game."

"Sweet, maybe you could knock Roxas off his high horse. He's the self-proclaimed king of Brawl." Xion looked at the time and nodded slightly. "Speaking of Roxas, it's time we had some girl talk." Xion turned the 360 off and switched the television back to cable. She got up and turned off the light and turning on a lamp sitting next to her bed before lying in her bed, remote in hand. "Come, sit. Talk." I got up from my seat on the floor, groaning as my muscles protested every move I made. I got in my bed and we sat in silence for a few minutes, watching some television show I didn't recognize. Something about killing Kenny. (A/N: South Park FTW) "So, when do you plan on telling him?" I glanced at her.

"Telling who what?" Xion sighed.

"When are you going to tell Roxas you like him?" I could feel the blush from earlier that day returning to my cheeks at the mention of the blond boy. "See? That's what I'm talking about."

"Well, I'd kind of like to get to know him before I just walk up and say 'Hey, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to got to the movies even though we've only known each other for two days because I really like you and I hope you return my feelings because my heart will be completely shattered if you don't.' That would be a little bit awkward."

"…And creepy." Xion said after a moment of silence. "Do you really think of him like that?" I felt the blush on my face redden, but I shook my head vigorously,

"No."

"You lie so badly. Your tomato mask says it all." Xion laughed.

"Oh, yeah? What about you and Xeno?" I noticed Xion's face begin to redden at the mention of the boy.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Xion, I may be new here, but I'm not completely oblivious to everything. You and Xeno definitely have something going, and it's not just friendship."

"You can't exactly call it love, either." I noticed Xion had settled deeper into her bed and was staring at the ceiling.

"What is it, then?"

"If I had to give it a name, it's probably a hero's crush."

"Hero's crush?"

"You know, when you think you love somebody after they do something that changes your life. That's what's going on between me and Xeno."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"I don't mind at all. In fact, I'd sort of like to get it off my chest." I settled down as well, sensing that this was going to be a long story.

"Well, it sort of happened a couple of years ago, when we were in eighth grade…" Xion began.

A/N: Wow, that chapter was a little longer than the others. 2,790 words and 7 pages… if only I could get something like this on Prince's Return again. I'm highly considering making this my active story to do over the summer, since I'm really getting into it and I sort of want to finish it before I go back to school in September. What do you guys think I should do? Please review and tell me your thoughts!

P.S: This chapter is dedicated to soluvepink, who was kind enough to review again, as well as LittleKeybladeNinja, my newest reviewer! Thank you both for supporting me!


	5. Heroic Feats

A/N: This chapter isn't required to understand the rest of the story, as it's only a flashback, so if you want you can choose to skip this chapter altogether. However, for those of you wondering, it explains the relationship between Xion and Xeno, as well as how Xion joined the Organization in this story's plotline.

Chapter 5: Heroic Feats

"Well, it sort of happened a couple of years ago, when we were in eighth grade…" Xion began.

Flashback (Xion POV)

It was late on a Saturday night, and I had just gotten out of soccer practice. It was mid-January, so I was wrapped tightly in an oversized black winter coat, the hood up to cover my hair and ears. Roxas was staying over at a friend's house for the night, and Axel was stuck at home, grounded because he had 'accidentally' set one of his mom's bushes on fire with a lighter. I hadn't seen Xeno around most of the week, since he'd been helping his neighbor, an old man named Mr. Yensid, move some boxes out of his attic. I was on my way home, which was usually a 15-minute walk, but because of the heavy wind it was taking much longer. I'd been walking for around 20 minutes and passed an old alleyway when two huge arms reached out and grabbed me before pulling me into the alley. I tried to scream, but a rough hand went over my mouth, stopping any attempt I made to make a sound.

"Well, well, well." a voice mumbled from the darkness of the alley. "Look what we've got here, boys. A little girl lost in the big scary city. We should help her out." The source of the voice stepped out of the shadows, and I recognized the person immediately. Seifer. I bit the hand that was over my mouth and it pulled away quickly in a shout of surprise and pain. However, the arms locking me in place remained, now pinning my arms to my sides so I couldn't move them either.

"What do you want, Seifer?" I asked, not bothering to shout. We were in a virtually unpopulated part of the city, where only shops lined the streets, all of which were closed because of the late hour. Shouting, I understood, would only be a waste of energy.

"What, I can't be a Good Samaritan and help a damsel in distress?" Seifer asked, the stupid overconfident smirk that acted almost like a personal logo lining his lips.

"The only reason I'm in distress is because I'm stuck dealing with you." Seifer's smirk disappeared and he frowned angrily at me.

"Fine. See if I care about your safety after this. But the least you could do for me helping you out is give me a kiss." I made a loud gagging noise to show my disgust.

"Are you kidding me? There's absolutely no way I'd _ever_ kiss you!" That stupid smirk returned to his face.

"You wanna bet?" Seifer raised his hand and bent his wrist forward, then returned his hand to his side. A boy stepped out of the shadows, I recognized him as one of Seifer's regular followers, Rai. He was carrying a metal pipe in his hand. "You wanna rethink that kiss?"

"Absolutely not." I knew there was little chance I was going to get out of this unharmed, but I figured a bruise or two was better than the alternative. Seifer frowned again.

"Alright, boys. Why don't we show this bitch what happens when we don't get what we want?" Rai smirked and stepped forward. He took a position on my left side. Seifer stepped forward as well, moving so that his face was mere inches from my own. "Sure you don't want to rethink that kiss?" I glared intently at him, not speaking. After a few seconds he seemed to get the hint when the frown returned. "Fine. Beat her." He moved away and I suddenly felt Rai's pipe hit me hard in the stomach, causing me to double over and cry in pain. I slumped down and the arms keeping me in place released me so I could fall to the ground. I felt a foot on my back, which pushed me forward so I was lying on the ground, hands under me, gripping my stomach. The pipe came a second time, hitting my shoulder blades. I cried again, tears streaming freely from my eyes. I heard Seifer crouch down, but I didn't dare look up at him. His hand touched my shoulder and he pushed me so that I was lying face up with him over me. "Not putting much of a fight up now, are you?"

"S-scre-ew y-you-u." I managed to whisper between cries of pain. Seifer smirked and leaned down until his face was once again inches from mine.

"Time to get what I came for." he whispered. He started to lean down and I closed my eyes, waiting for the moment when his lips would touch mine, but it never came. I heard a grunt of pain and opened my eyes to find Seifer slumped over next to me, a decently sized rock sitting next to him. He was bleeding out of the side of his head.

"Leave. Her. Alone. Seifer." I heard a voice say from the opening of the alleyway. I tried to look up at my savior, but pain shot through my body and I was forced to rest my head on the ground. I used my arms, though painfully, to pull myself up so that I was sitting with the wall supporting me. I was able to make out the figure of the person standing in the entrance to the alley. Xeno. I couldn't see his face, since it was hidden in the hood of the black coat he and the rest of the Organization always wore, but I could tell it was him by the battle stance. His right foot was a step forward from his left, his hands up to defend himself, but open so his hand muscles wouldn't get too tight.

"What're…you doing… here, kid?" Seifer asked as he struggled to his feet.

"Stopping you from harming an innocent girl any further than you already have, obviously." Xeno replied. His voice was like that of an angel at the moment- calm and with just enough confidence that he didn't appear to be scared of Seifer, but at the same time cautious. Probably of the fact that one of the boys standing in his way was armed.

"You're messing with Seifer's gang, y'know?" Rai said. I could hear a nearly inaudible chuckle coming from the cloaked boy.

"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone who's scared of that name."

"You should be scared of me, kid." Seifer said. "I own the school."

"Really? I don't know how you do it. You go to school, and yet you still make enough money to buy it and perform upkeep? I want whatever job you've got." Seifer's face started to turn red with anger at Xeno's sarcasm, and, if I weren't in so much pain, I'd probably have been laughing at his expense.

"Show this kid who we are, boys." Rai and the boy who had been holding me stood in front of Xeno, blocking him from going after Seifer. Rai raised his pipe and attempted a side cut at Xeno's head, an attack that would be an instant down if it were to make contact. Xeno, however, caught the pipe mid-swing, visibly flinching when the pipe hit his hand. He gripped the pipe tightly and ripped it from Rai's grasp. Rai looked at his hand were the pipe had been seconds before in complete shock. Xeno took this to his advantage. He kicked the nameless boy a few feet back, then spun around Rai, who had recovered from his initial shock and attempted to reclaim the pipe, and used the pipe to hit the back of his knees. Rai's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The nameless boy moved to punch Xeno, but Xeno held the pipe that was still in his hand at just the right angle for the punch to slide down the length of the pipe and past him, causing the boy to lose his balance. He teetered precariously on the balls of his feet for a second before Xeno pushed him with the end of the pipe, making him fall to the ground. With Seifer's two cronies dispatched, Xeno looked up at Seifer, smirked, and got into a fighting stance with the pipe held parallel to the ground near his right ear (A/N: think Riku's battle stance from Kingdom Hearts 2). Seifer just stared at Xeno, and then glanced down at his two grounded followers.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea who you are now, Seifer."

"You haven't seen the last of me!" Seifer yelled angrily before running past Xeno and down the street. Xeno watched him go for a few seconds then turned to me. He threw the pipe deeper into the alley and ran over to me, crouching to inspect me. By now the coat's hood had fallen away from his face, and I could see the worry in his eyes.

"Are you alright, Xixi?" I groaned at the name that came from his mouth, and he laughed lightly. "Yeah, you're fine. Just stay still. Let me take a look. Where'd they hit you?"

"S-stomach a-and back…" I gasped. Xeno nodded and propped me up again, making me groan in pain as my back left the support of the wall.

"It's alright. Just relax." Xeno placed a hand on my back and gently felt over the entirety of my upper back. He seemed to make mental notes whenever I winced. After a minute of this, he stopped and smiled. "No lasting damage. Give it a couple days' rest and you'll be back to normal."

"T-thanks, Xeno."

"No problem. I wish I'd gotten here sooner. Your mom told me that you were late coming home and asked me to go looking for you. And right now I'm really glad she did." I tried to get up, but the pain in my back was too excruciating and I ended up back on the ground. "Here, let me help you." Xeno grabbed my arm and placed it over his shoulders, wrapped his arm around my back, under the injury, before helping me get up. My legs buckled as we stood and I was down on my knees in a second. "Alright, we'll try this a different way." He removed his arm from my back and placed it behind my knees, then placed his other arm where the first had been, hoisting me up so that I was in his arms, bridal style. He carried me that way the last three blocks to my house. Once he got there, he managed to ring the doorbell with some difficulty using the toe of my shoe. My mom opened the door and gasped.

"What happened to her?" she asked.

"Seifer and his gang attacked her." My mom's face was covered in worry, so Xeno continued. "Don't worry, there isn't any major damage. She just needs a couple of days to rest and she'll be just fine." Mom's face brightened at this, and she nodded.

"Thank you for finding her."

"It's no problem, Mrs. Martin. She's my friend, and I look after my friends." Mom helped Xeno carry me upstairs, then gestured to my room.

"You can just lay her down on the bed, Xeno. If you need me I'll be in the kitchen." My mom retreated down the stairs while Xeno carried me into my bedroom and placed me gently on the bed.

"Ugh… thanks, Xeno. You have no idea how grateful I am. I don't even want to think about what Seifer might have done to me."

"Disgusting images, Xion." Xeno said with a chuckle. "You get some rest. I'm going to stay over in the guest room for the night, so if you need anything just call." I looked up at Xeno, still standing over me, and saw that same caring look in his eyes that I saw in the alleyway. I felt my face take on a red tint as I continued to stare at my once-best friend, now something more.

"O-okay, s-sure." I stuttered, mentally slapping myself for thinking about my best friend as anything more than that.

"Once you're rested and healed, be ready for hell." Xeno said, now placing a determined look on his face. "It's time you joined the Organization." I stared at him, wide eyed. The Organization was a group of talented fighters, athletes, and people of other specialties that made them different from others. It was a group that was next to impossible to get into, and once you did, you were one of them for life. Only the best of the best could get in.

"B-but I'm no fighter. A-and I can't do any of that other stuff you guys can."

"That's why I'm bringing you in as our newest member. We can train you, teach you to defend yourself. You could also think of it as an insurance policy. Organization XIII looks out for its own. If Seifer messes with you again the entire Organization will have a bone to pick with him." Xeno turned to walk out of my room, but I had to respond to his offer somehow.

"Wow, thanks Xeno." Xeno looked over his shoulder and smirked. That smirk would become my Achilles Heel: whenever I saw it I'd melt on the inside. I knew I was in love.

_End Flashback (Namine POV)_

"Of course, over the next year or so I figured out my feelings for him. I'm slowly getting over it a little bit at a time."

"Wow." I said, completely star struck by the story. "I think I know why you're like that around him. I'd be in the same boat if someone did all that just to protect me."

"Yeah, but now I'm starting to figure things out." Xion said with a sigh. "I know that even though Xeno saved me from that asshole Seifer and brought me into the Organization, I don't really _owe _him my life. That was my problem. I thought, since he saved me, it was only right that I should be with him for the rest of my life, to repay him, you know? But then I realized he'd do the exact same thing for you, or Kairi, or Roxas, or anyone that was in trouble. That's just who he is."

"He does seem a lot like the hero type." I pondered.

"Don't you worry. I'm sure Roxas will be all the hero you'll need for the rest of your life. I know you like him, and I'm sure once you two get to know each other he'll feel the same way." I blushed at the hint of Roxas and I being together for the rest of our lives. Feeling the conversation was over, Xion said goodnight, turned off the lamp and television, and went to sleep. I soon followed, thoughts of the blond-haired boy running through my mind at high speed.

A/N: I know this one's a little rushed. I wanted to get this out before I left for a couple of weeks to visit some friends. I'll have my laptop with me, so I can work on the next chapter or two, but I can't guarantee good enough Internet connection to upload anything. I'll do my best, and later on I might rewrite this chapter, if anyone thinks I need to. Also, I still haven't made my decision on which of my stories should be my active summer work. I'd like to know you guys' opinion on what I should do. Please go to my profile and vote in the new poll that will be posted minutes after this chapter is uploaded. And thanks in advance.


	6. Pool Party Hookup

A/N: Good news! I'm back from my trip, so I can begin uploading again!

Chapter 6: Pool Party Hookup

Xion and I woke up to her alarm at 9:00 to Kairi singing along with Lady Gaga blaring through the bathroom door.

"Ugh…" Xion groaned. "Why do I have to deal with this _every morning_?" I couldn't help but laugh at the annoyed face Xion was making in my cousin's general direction.

"I know how you feel." I stated. "She's been doing that since we were about 6, and we used to live right next door to each other. I could hear her in my room, even though there were two brick walls between us." I got out of my bed and picked out the clothes I was going to wear to the pool. They consisted of a plain white two-piece swimsuit, a sky blue tank top, and white shorts that reached just above my knees. By this point the singing, if you could call it that, music, and water had stopped. I knocked on the bathroom door before walking in, knowing that Kairi enjoyed privacy while she was in the bathroom. I changed into my clothes and performed my other morning rituals (brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, etc.) and left the bathroom to find Xion in a black t-shirt and shorts. "Is black the only color you wear?" I asked.

"No, but I do prefer darker colors to lighter ones. Blame the Organization. They always wear dark colors." I heard a knock on our door and Xion went to open it. We found Kairi and Olette waiting on the other side, towels in hand.

"Are you two ready?" Kairi asked. "We're supposed to meet the rest of the gang downstairs in about ten minutes."

"Yeah, let's go." Xion and I proceeded into the hallway and we waited while Xion locked the door behind her. We proceeded into the elevator and rode it down to the ground floor. Outside we found Sora, Riku, and Hayner sitting on a bench in front of the building.

"Hey guys." Olette greeted. "Where's Pence?"

"He couldn't come." Hayner said. "He said he has a Yearbook Club meeting all day."

"Yearbook Club?" Kairi asked. "The yearbook doesn't come out until mid-May! Why would they need to start meeting so early?"

"That's what I said. All he did was wave it off and leave without a word."

"Sounds like he's keeping something a secret from us." Riku said.

"Maybe he's finally found himself a girlfriend?" Sora offered. Everyone stood in silence for a moment, then everyone except Xion and I burst out laughing.

"Yeah right. That'll be the day I eat my left shoe." I glanced over at the gate and smirked at the sight in front of me.

"I guess you'd better get munching, Riku." I said. Riku looked up at me, obviously confused. I let loose a short laugh and pointed in the direction of the gates. "Look." Everyone looked to the gates and took in the sight of Pence holding hands with a short brunette as they walked out of the school grounds. Pence was carrying a large picnic basket, and I could make out the shape of his camera hanging around his neck.

"Looks like a date in the making if I've ever seen one." Sora said. "So, Riku. Would you prefer a sandal, a shoe, or a boot?"

"Shut it, Sora." Riku mumbled angrily.

"So, what do you guys say we head for the pool?" Olette suggested.

"I'm all for that." Xion agreed. I nodded, knowing it was probably best for Sora's health if we moved on to a different subject. I hadn't known Riku for long, but Kairi had told me he could get aggressive if he got angry enough. We left the school and walked in silence for around ten minutes before reaching a large glass building. Upon walking inside I could see a completely empty indoor pool through the glass.

"Here we are." Kairi said. "Sora, would you mind getting us checked in?"

"Sure." Sora consented. "You guys go ahead and head to the pool. I'll catch up in a minute." Sora headed for the reception desk to sign the group in while the rest of us headed for the pool. Kairi, Olette, Xion, and I left the guys to head through the girls' locker room and drop our stuff off.

"So, Xion." Kairi started, catching my roommate's attention. "Since we're going to be hanging out a lot more now, we should get to know each other."

"Uh, sure, okay." Xion said hesitantly.

"Are you going out with anyone?"

"N-no, why do you ask?"

"Whenever we see you you're always hanging around with that one guy, what's his name, Seeno?" Olette stated.

"It's 'Xeno,' and no. We're just friends. I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now."

"Really?" Kairi asked. "What single girl in her right mind isn't looking for a boyfriend?" Xion, Olette, and I all raised our hands. "What? You guys are supposed to back up my point!"

"Why back it up when there's three contradictions in this room?" I asked. Xion let loose a laugh from the back of her throat. "What?"

"Two." my roommate said. "Namine here is smitten with Roxas Detrick."

"W-what? I am not!"

"She is! You can see the blush on her face!" Xion ducked under my sloppy attempt to throw my hand over her mouth. "She's trying to silence me! The evidence is all there!" Even though I was concentrating on quieting Xion so that the entire city didn't hear her outbursts, I could easily hear Kairi and Olette trying to hold in their own laughs.

"Roxas Detrick?" Kairi giggled. "That's a surprise. I always thought that guy kept to himself. He's always so quiet. Completely different from Sora."

"Why are you comparing him to Sora?" I asked while Xion once again ducked under my hands as I tried to stop her laughing.

"Because they're cousins." Olette said, as she was the first one to regain her composure. "Roxas's mom is Sora's father's sister. Haven't you noticed the similarities?" Now that I thought about it, they did have a few similar features. The same smile, same face, same deep blue eyes…

'Wait, what am I thinking?' I thought. 'Roxas and I are just friends. That's not going to change.'

"Yeah, besides the hair they look almost like twins." Kairi added.

"I never noticed that before." Xion said. "I guess because I haven't been around Sora enough to really notice." I decided it was time to change the subject, before it went back to my supposed crush on the blond.

"Hey, guys." I interrupted. "Shouldn't we be meeting the guys at the pool?"

"Oh yeah, they're probably waiting for us." We removed our outer clothes to reveal our bikinis, which Kairi and Olette had also chosen to wear to the pool. We stuffed our clothes into lockers, grabbed our towels, and headed out into the pool area. The pool was really big compared to most that I've seen in my lifetime, spanning about fifty from end to end, and, by my best guess, about thirty across. According to the numbers painted on the concrete surrounding the pool, it reached a depth of 13 feet. The pool area was completely deserted, save the guys, who were sitting around the deep end with their towels draped over lounge chairs. Even Sora had managed to join the guys before we made it out.

"There you are." Hayner said when he noticed us walking towards them. "We were starting to think you girls had decided to hang out at a different pool."

"Sorry. We got caught up in a _very_ informative talk." I saw Kairi's eyes travel to look at me as she said this, and I could feel the blush on my face returning.

"Shut it, Kairi." I mumbled.

"Fine." my cousin sighed. "So what do you say we jump in?" Kairi threw her towel onto a nearby chair and dove headfirst into the deep end of the pool, making us hold up our towels to prevent the splashed water from raining down on us.

"Ugh, Kairi!" Olette moaned. "I'd prefer to not get wet until I get in the pool, thanks." However, Kairi was still underwater and didn't hear her roommate's complaints. She surfaced and shook her hair out of her face.

"Come on in, everyone! The water's great!"

"Alright!" Hayner shouted. He got up and took a running start before cannonballing into the pool, this time managing to coat us in chlorinated pool water.

"Hayner!" Olette shouted.

"Sorry, Olli!" Hayner shouted as he backstroked towards the other end of the pool.

"Whatever." Olette stood up and walked over to the pool, choosing to slip in by sitting on the edge and sliding in using her hands instead of diving in after our friends. Sora and I soon followed the others into the pool, leaving Xion and Riku sitting near our towels. After a while Sora, Kairi, Hayner, and Olette set up a two-on-two pool volleyball game, and I chose to sit on the side and watch. I looked over at Riku and Xion and saw them talking and laughing like they were best friends. I inched closer to them so I could listen in on their conversation.

"You think that's bad?" Riku laughed. "One time last summer Sora, Kairi, and I were over at Kairi's house celebrating her birthday, and Sora offered to make her pancakes for breakfast, even though he can't cook a frozen dinner to save his life. He ended up setting the pancakes on fire and probably would've scorched half the kitchen if Kairi and I hadn't noticed."

"Cousins really do act alike." Xion laughed along with him.

"So, Xion…"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I was wondering if maybe…you know what, never mind."

"No, come on. Say it."

"Alright. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to hang out Tuesday after school. Kairi and Sora are going to the movies and I've got nothing to do. What do you say?"

"S-sure, Riku! I'd love to." Riku sighed deeply in relief, like he'd just had the world on his shoulders and finally got rid of it. Strange, I never thought it would be difficult for a guy like Riku to ask someone to hang out, female or otherwise.

"G-great. I know this café near Station Heights that has _amazingly_ good sandwiches. How about we meet there, say, sevenish?"

"Sure. That'll give me enough time to take care of any first day homework I might have." Suddenly Hayner shouted bloody murder, breaking Riku and Xion from their conversation. We all turned our attention to the four teens in the center of the pool. Hayner and Olette were jumping up and down in joy while Kairi and Sora were glaring at them angrily.

"That's it, score 17-20! We win!" Hayner shouted.

"Congrats, Hayner, really, but you don't have to shout it to the heavens." Sora growled.

"Oh, you're just a sore loser."

"That's it." Sora swam toward Hayner quickly and pushed the blonde boy underwater with all of his weight. "Sore loser that, Winters (Hayner's last name)!"

"Now now, boys. That's enough." Olette said through fits of giggles.

"Yeah, no need for a catfight in the middle of the pool." Kairi added. Sora turned to glare evilly at the two girls, allowing Hayner to surface and follow his example.

"You want a cat fight, Kai?" Sora said with a joking, but also slightly evil tone in his voice. "Well, you've found one. Meeeeeeooooooooow." Sora and Hayner both swam quickly at the girls, Sora at Kairi and Hayner at Olette, and wrapped their arms around their waists before either girl could react.

"Hey, Sora! Let go!" Kairi tried to pry Sora's arms from around her, but had no luck as Sora lifted her off the bottom of the pool and swung her around in a circle. Olette was having slightly better luck, having managed to surprise Hayner with an elbow to his solar plexus, and was swimming away from the boy with the speed and grace of an Olympic athlete.

"Namine, Xion, Riku, a little help please!" Olette cried.

"Sorry, 'Olli'!" Riku shouted. "You guys got yourselves into this, you can get yourselves out. Namine, Xion, either of you girls up for going across the street and getting a hot dog?"

"Sure." We said simultaneously. I hoisted myself out of the pool and grabbed my towel to dry my hair as I followed Xion towards the locker room to grab my clothes.

"We'll be back in a while, just gonna grab some lunch." Riku called over his shoulder.

"Riku!" Kairi shouted. "Come back here and help us!"

"Bye, Kairi." I waved as we continued walking. "Good luck getting away from your boyfriend- oops, I mean Sora." This slip caused Sora and Kairi's faces to turn red. "Payback's a bitch, isn't it cousin?" Xion and I walked into the locker room and put on our street clothes, then met Riku in the recreation center lobby. We walked across the street to a slightly busy hot dog stand, but there was one register open so we didn't have to wait. We walked up to the counter and I noticed the cashier, one of the guys I had met yesterday at lunch. What was his name?

"Hey, Xigbar." Xion called. Right, Xigbar. How could I forget that eye patch and ponytail? "I didn't know you were working today." The boy scoffed.

"As if." Xigbar said. "I was supposed to have the day off today, but the manager called me in because we were so 'busy.'" Xigbar used air quotes to emphasize the last word. "Interesting how I get here and there's almost no one here. You guys are my first customers. Anyways, what can I get ya, Poppet?"

"Just the usual, thanks." Xigbar smirked.

"Got it. One jumbo chilidog with extra chili and a medium soda coming your way. You wanna super size that weenie?" Riku and I couldn't help but burst out laughing, especially once we noticed the freaked out look on Xion's face, and how serious Xigbar's expression was.

"I can NOT believe you just said that!" Riku said between fits of laughter.

"X-Xigbar, that is NOT funny!" Xion shouted.

"Like hell it isn't. The other customers seem to disagree." We could hear the people around us struggling to hold in laughter as they too caught on to what had happened. Even the other workers at the stand were trying not to laugh. "Alright, enough, enough. What can I get the lady today?" I finally managed to stop laughing long enough to look up at the overhead menu.

"I'll take a regular hotdog with ketchup and mustard and a small coke." Xigbar wrote down the order and nodded.

"And for you, Silver?"

"The name's _Riku_, and I'll take what Namine's getting." Xigbar nodded and wrote the order on his notepad, then ripped the page out and passed it to a man with a dark blue apron, whom I assumed was the person who prepared the hotdogs.

"Alright, that'll be 73 munny." I grabbed my wallet out of my back pocket and went to pull out some money, but Riku pushed my hands down to my sides and pulled out his own wallet.

"It's on me." He pulled out a 100-munny bill and placed it in Xigbar's open hand. Xigbar placed the bill in the register and handed Riku his change as our food was passed up front by the man Xigbar had given the orders to.

"There ya go. You guys enjoy your food." Riku took the food and handed us our orders, then led the way to a table near the stand. We sat and talked about whatever came up while we ate, and continued to talk for a while after. Before we knew it the sun was starting to set and we noticed our friends coming out of the recreation center.

"Thanks for ditching us, guys." Olette pouted. "Those boys did unimaginable things to us in there." Hayner laughed and wrapped his arm around Olette's waist, pulling her closer to him. Although she continued to pout, a small blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Aww, c'mon Olette." Hayner said. "You know you enjoyed it."

"Alright, lovebirds." Riku said as he stood up, Xion and I following his example. "How about we get back to school before you two attempt to do anything you may regret." Olette's blush deepened and Hayner gained his own blush as they glared at their silver-haired friend.

"We are _not_ lovebirds!" They shouted in unison.

"So they say." I heard Xion mumble under her breath. We walked in silence for a few minutes until we passed through the school gates, when the guys said their goodbyes and headed for the boys dorm. Kairi, Olette, Xion, and I walked to the girls' dorm and rode the elevator to the seventh floor. We headed for our dorms and got to them ten minutes before dorm inspections.

"See you girls later." Kairi said as she and Olette went into their dorm and closed the door to prepare for bed. Xion unlocked our door and we went inside to prepare for bed as well.

A/N: Sorry about the long no update window. As I expected, I didn't have a very good Internet connection while I was traveling and for the week since I got back I just haven't been in the mood to write. I think this chapter is a little rushed, since I wanted to get it out before Friday, but I hope you like it either way.

Next Chapter: Meeting Seifer!


	7. Meeting Seifer

Chapter 7: Meeting Seifer

It was finally Tuesday, our first day of school. Since I still didn't know my way around, Xion, Roxas, Xeno, and I met up Monday afternoon to discuss an escort pattern, although I continued to deny my need for one. They agreed that, since Xion was in all of my morning classes, she would walk with me to first and second period, then Xeno and Roxas would walk with me to third period, lunch, fourth, fifth, and sixth period. Xion brought up the subject of Seifer, stating that she wouldn't put it past him to try to mess with me on my first day once he knew I was friends with them. Xeno and Roxas stated that they would take care of Seifer if anything happened. I thought over all of this for the umpteenth time as I stepped out of the bathroom from putting my school clothes on. I had chosen a plain white sleeveless dress that reached down to my knees, a sky blue jacket, and a pair of white sandals as my wardrobe for the day. Xion was wearing a pair of dark green cargo pants, a black shirt, and black sneakers. We proceeded downstairs via the elevator and waited outside. Xeno and Roxas had agreed to meet us in front of our dorm building so that we could walk to first period together.

"There you two are." I heard a familiar voice call from the direction of the boys' dorm. Xion and I turned and saw the familiar faces of Roxas and Xeno walking toward us. Roxas had abandoned the black coat I'd seen him wearing over the past few days for a pair of beige cargo pants with a black crotch, a black zipped up jacket under a second white jacket with black block designs and a red collar, and black and grey shoes with red straps for laces (KH2 outfit). Xeno had exchanged his coat for a black unzipped hoodie over a grey shirt and black jeans and boots.

"Wow, someone in the organization actually wears white!" I exclaimed. Roxas, Xion, and Xeno stared at me with confused looks on their faces, then seemed to notice Roxas's attire.

"Oh, yeah. Him and just about all of the others who don't go to school here." Xeno said. "You'd be hard pressed to find Vexen without a white lab coat when he's not here. The rest of us choose to stay with darker colors because we can stay in the background a bit easier. The Organization isn't one for being the center of attention."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't getting to class without being tardy on the first day be _our_ center of attention?" Xion stressed. I looked at my watch and saw that we only had about ten minutes until our first class started.

"She's right." Roxas added. "We'd better get going. Mrs. Fischer won't be happy if we're late on the first day of school."

"Right." Xeno agreed. "Alright, let's get going." Xeno led the way to one of the smaller buildings on the eastern side of the campus and we all walked inside. I noticed a small crowd had formed in one of the hallways and I pointed it out to my friends.

"Hey, guys." I said, catching their attention. "What's going on over there?" I pointed down the hallway to the commotion. The crowd was now backing up slightly from whatever was going on in the center, but they were still packed tightly enough that I couldn't see what was going on inside.

"I'll check it out." Roxas said. He handed his backpack to Xeno and ran over to the crowd.

Roxas's POV

Once I reached the crowd I proceeded to push my way through towards the center, something that became easier to do once they realized who I was. Being a member of Organization XIII, I had a reputation around the school that made your average high school student tend to avoid me like the plague. As the crowd made a path for me to get through, I set my eyes on the cause of the commotion. Seifer, the school bully and self-proclaimed head of Twilight Town's 'Disciplinary Committee,' had a short kid in an orange and white striped shirt and brown hair pinned against a row of lockers.

'Great.' I thought. 'First day of school and already I've got to deal with Seifer.' I ran forward and tackled the taller boy to the ground, allowing the short kid who had been pinned against the lockers to grab his dropped school supplies and run away through the crowd.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Seifer?" I asked, placing as much venom in my voice as possible, hoping to discourage the violence that was soon to come from the bully. I got up and brushed off my jacket.

"My business is none of yours, Lamer." Seifer said angrily. He brought his legs up into the air and tried to kick me while pushing himself up, but I saw the move before he made it and jumped back a few feet, forcing the crowd to back up as well, causing Seifer's feet to pass by harmlessly several inches in front of me. As soon as he landed I crouched on my hands and feet so that my face was almost touching the ground and swept Seifer's legs out from under him with my left leg. Seifer, obviously having not seen it coming, hit the ground hard on his back, unmoving. I stood up and walked back over to Namine, Xeno, and Xion. I smirked when I noticed the surprised look on Namine's face.

Namine's POV

"Wow, Roxas." I said once he came back to us. Xeno threw him his backpack, which he caught easily and threw over his shoulder. "I never would have thought you could fight like that. You don't look that strong." Roxas and Xeno both glared at me, causing a shiver to fly up my spine, thinking I'd said something wrong. "What?" Both of them started laughing, and I realized they'd been pulling my leg.

"Oh, man. You should've seen the look on your face!" Xeno said. "I swear, you must've been thinking we were going to hit you or something."

"The thought may have crossed my mind." I smiled, playing along. "Not like either of you could do anything, since I'm a girl and all." Roxas stopped laughing and smirked evilly.

"You want to bet on that?" he asked. Roxas quickly grabbed me and put me in a gentle headlock, but it was strong enough that I couldn't break loose. He then rubbed his knuckles against the top of my head, probably messing up my hair, which I'd been in the bathroom working on getting strait for half an hour.

"Roxas, stop! You're going to ruin my hair!"

"Aww, is poor Nami gonna cwy over a bad haiw day?" Roxas laughed, but released me from the headlock all the same. We finally reached our first period class, Biology. We made it into the room just as the tardy bell rang and took seats at one of the empty tables in the back of the room. I noticed Hayner, Sora, Olette, and Pence sitting at a table a little ways away and waved at them. They waved back as the teacher walked into the room. Everyone suddenly became very quiet at the sight of the man who was supposed to be our teacher. He had long, silver hair, wore a long, black coat that was unzipped with nothing underneath, revealing his well-developed torso, black jeans, and black combat boots that reached up to his knees. I decided it wasn't a good idea to look at his face because I could feel his gaze on me.

"Oh my god, he's gorgeous!" I heard one of the girls in the class whisper.

"Good morning class, I'm your Biology teacher. Since today is the first day of school, I'll save all of you the pain of having to do any class work." Everyone cheered as the man stopped to allow the class time to cheer. "I do, however, have a list of supplies here that I'll need each of you to obtain by next week." He picked up a stack of papers from his desk and placed one in front of each of the students at one of the tables. "You may all feel free to talk amongst yourselves while I pass these out and for the rest of the period." There was a sudden roar of noise as the entire class began talking at once, Roxas, Xion, Xeno, and I being the only ones not talking. The teacher finally reached our table and slammed the entire stack (or what was left of it) on the table in front of me, startling me. "So, I guess I don't get a simple hello from my favorite niece?" The teacher whispered in my ear. I just then recognized the voice.

"Uncle Seph!" I exclaimed, though I did so at a normal volume so I didn't draw too much attention. I jumped up and hugged the man as my friends stared at the two of us, interest evident on their faces. "Guys, this is my Uncle Sephiroth. He's my dad's older brother. Uncle Seph, these are my new friends Roxas, Xion, and Xeno."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Sephiroth." Roxas said, holding out his hand. My uncle smiled and took Roxas's hand in his own and shook.

"The pleasure is all mine, Roxas. But please, call me Seph. Any friend of Namine's is a friend of mine. Mr. Locke will do while we're in class, though." (A/N: I know, Sephiroth is REALLY OOC. I wanted to place Sephiroth in this story, since so few people do, but I decided to make him the cool uncle that the kid can go to for help.)

"Okay, Mr. Locke."

"What are you doing here?" Uncle Seph directed the question to me. "What happened to Traverse Town High?"

"My parents made me start school here." I pouted. "They say it'll be 'better for my education' or some nonsense like that. What about you? I though you were a teacher in Hollow Bastion."

"I was for a while, but I got a much better offer teaching here. And now it's even better, because I get to see my favorite niece every day."

"And I get to see my favorite Uncle." I rebuked.

"So true. Alright, well I've got some paperwork to do, so I'll talk to you later. Have fun." Uncle Seph picked up the remaining supply lists and returned to his desk.

"So, you're from Traverse Town?" Xion asked.

"Yep. Well actually I was born in Hollow Bastion, but my family moved to Traverse Town when I was a little less than a year old."

"That's a coincidence. Xeno's from Traverse Town, too."

"Really?" I turned to Xeno. "What part of Traverse Town?"

"Third District." Xeno stated, not looking up from the book he was reading. "I lived in the back alleys, near the Mystical House."

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that place. All the kids in the Second District say it's haunted. I never believed them."

"No, actually it's inhabited by an old man named Merlin. He's not there much because he's always traveling." The bell rang and we all left to walk to our second period class, History, together. "So why did you move here?" Xeno didn't answer, instead directing his gaze straight in front of us.

"He doesn't like talking about it." Roxas said. "You see, Xeno doesn't know his parents very well. He was always on his own when he lived in Traverse Town, while his parents were always out getting drunk and clubbing. Eventually they ran out of money and put him up for adoption so they wouldn't have to raise him any more. He was adopted by his current parents, who live here in Twilight Town, while they were on a business trip in Traverse Town."

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry, Xeno. I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it." Xeno said, finally looking at me and smiling. "I've put my past with my biological parents behind me. I love my adoptive parents, and they love me more than my real parents ever did." We walked into History and took our seats, awaiting the start of class.

Two hours later Roxas, Xeno, and I walked out of third period English to go to lunch. Xion had gone to her third period, Composition, and agreed to meet us in the cafeteria for lunch since the Organization wasn't eating together until Saturday.

"You guys go on ahead. I need to get some things out of my locker." I said.

"Okay." Roxas agreed. "We'll see you in a few." Roxas and Xeno turned a corner to head to the cafeteria and were lost from sight. I opened my locker and crouched down to grab a few books from my backpack to exchange with the ones I needed for my last three classes. When I stood up to put my books in the locker, the door suddenly closed in my face. I turned to see who had closed my locker, when I found myself face to face with none other than Seifer. I recognized him from Roxas's encounter with him earlier that morning. I also realized he was sporting a large blue bruise on his left cheek, which I figured was where Olette had slapped him a few days ago.

"Hey there." Seifer said. I had to hand it to him, he did have the right tone of voice to capture a girl's attention. If I hadn't already learned about his true side, I'd likely have swooned over my close proximity to him. Now, however, I stood my ground. "I'm Seifer. You're the new girl, right?" I nodded, but didn't say anything. "The quiet type, eh? That's alright, I don't mind. What do you say you and I catch a bite after school today? We could get to know each other a bit better." I could see the evil intentions behind those words in his eyes, and it made me hate him even more.

"No thanks." I said. "I know your type. You're so full of yourself just because you pick on a bunch of kids that are smaller and younger than you, and you think you can get any girl you set your eye on. Well, guess what. I'm not any girl, and I'd never go out with anyone like you." I stooped and picked up my backpack, then stood up and tried to walk away. Unfortunately, Seifer caught me by the arm and pushed me back against the lockers. It was at this point that I noticed how empty the hallways were. Everyone else was likely already at lunch or in class.

"Now you listen here, girly." Seifer's voice was laced with anger, and I have to admit, it scared me a bit. "No one turns Seifer down. Either you go out on a date with me or I'll rip you apart so badly no one will ever be able to put you back together."

"Wow, Seifer. I never thought you could use so many words in a single sentence." Seifer turned to glare at the source of the voice that had somehow turned up behind him without either of us knowing. I looked over his shoulder and saw Sora, standing in front of him now with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What do you want, pipsqueak?"

"I want you to stop bothering my friend."

"Oh, she's your friend, is she?" Seifer chuckled a bit. "What're you gonna do about it, Lamer?" Sora, without a word, got into a fighting stance that even I could tell was very sloppy.

"I'll make you." Seifer laughed even louder now.

"You? You're going to fight me?"

"Y-yeah, you got a problem with it?"

"Not a bit." Seifer moved from the wall with almost blinding speed and punched Sora in the face. Sora flew back a few feet from the sudden force and hit the ground hard, moaning in pain. Seifer crouched over him and continued punching him in any exposed body part he could reach. I swear I could hear a few ribs cracking and possibly a dislocated jaw as the one-sided fight continued. I was so shocked by the scene that was playing out in front of me I couldn't think coherently enough to go for help. Suddenly a blur of red tackled Seifer off of his smaller prey. I looked and found Axel standing over a restrained Seifer. Moments later Mr. Highwind, the technology teacher, ran over and grabbed Seifer so that Axel could get up and check Sora. A stream of students who had heard the ruckus from the fight came out of the cafeteria and nearby classrooms, staring at the scene in front of them. Roxas, Xeno, Xion, and some other members of the Organization managed to push their way up to the front of the crowd. Roxas and Xeno grabbed Sora off the ground and helped him to the nurse's office while Xion came over to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"F-fine." I stammered. "I can't believe Seifer did that. And to Sora of all people."

"Welcome to reality, Nami." Axel said as he joined us. "Don't worry. There were a couple of broken ribs, and I think his jaw might be dislocated, but there's no permanent damage. He'll be good as new in a couple of weeks."

"I hope so." Axel asked Mr. Highwind if I could take the rest of the day off, and he immediately agreed. Mr. Highwind asked Xion to take me back to our dorm and look after me for the rest of the day, and that I should be able to return to classes tomorrow. As we were leaving the campus police arrived and took Seifer out of Mr. Highwind's hands and escorted him in the direction of the administration building. I hoped he'd get his just desserts for the pain he'd caused Sora.

A/N: Sorry about the slight wait from the last update. I've been working on college applications pretty much non-stop for the past couple of days, but I've finally got some time to do other things, including get this chapter finished. Next chapter is going to be a fun one (in my opinion anyway) so make sure you guys keep an eye out for an update over the next week or two! I'll be introducing my second (and final, I promise) OC into the story, but her bio won't be posted on my profile until after chapter nine due to the presence of spoilers in her info.

Next Chapter: Enter Jessica


	8. Enter Jessica

A/N: Haha! See, I didn't let you guys down! Sorry the editing took so long, gotta start getting school stuff back together. Obviously I won't be finishing this before summer ends, but have no fear! I plan to continue this into the school year until it's finished. We'll see what happens after that.

Chapter 8: Enter Jessica

It was mid-November, and the rest of the year had so far gone without any more encounters with Seifer, since he was stuck in his dorm room for the duration of his suspension. With some difficulty I balanced my life between my two new groups of friends, sometimes hanging out with Kairi and the rest of our friends, while at other times I chose to hang with the mysterious members of Organization XIII with Xion. Both groups seemed to accept me with open arms, though some of the members of Organization XIII seemed a little miffed about the amount of time I spent with Xion. Xion had said it was just because they don't usually socialize with 'outsiders,' their name for anyone who wasn't in the Organization. Roxas, Xeno, and I were sitting in the Arts room waiting for our sixth, and final, period to start, simply talking about whatever we could think of. Xion had somehow managed to catch the flu, so I made her stay in bed for the day. I had already made plans to stay in Kairi and Olette's room overnight so I wouldn't catch her illness. For anyone who's worried about Sora, he's back to his normal happy-go-lucky self. He had three broken ribs and his jaw was dislocated, but the nurse was able to, for a lack of better words, nurse him back to health within a few weeks.

"So, did you guys hear?" Xeno asked. "Seifer's finally allowed to come back to school."

"Wow," I said in exasperation. "You'd think they'd expel him for nearly hospitalizing poor Sora."

"I don't bother questioning the discipline system around here." Roxas said. "It seems like unless the city police are involved all you get is a 'tsk tsk' and a ten minute time out before you're completely forgiven."

"Well, let's hope he's learned his lesson about screwing with us and our friends." Xeno stated. Our Art teacher, Mrs. Cowan, chose that moment to walk into the room, apparently right after an early afternoon run seeing as she was gasping for air.

"S-sorry I'm…sorry I'm late, clas-s." Mrs. Cowan said. "I just got…got a call t-ten minutes ago from the off-office th-that we have a new stud-ent today." Mrs. Cowan took a deep breath and stood up as strait as she could. "Everyone, please welcome your new classmate." She waved a hand at the door, gesturing to whoever was outside to enter the room. A tall blond-haired girl wearing a gray tank top under a black zip-up jacket that was unzipped and jeans walked slowly into the room. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"…" The girl said nothing, folding her hands in front of her and staring at her feet.

"Very well. Everyone, this is Jessica Grant. She's just moved here from Radiant Garden. Please, give her a warm welcome and make her first day here as comfortable as possible." Mrs. Cowan looked around the room momentarily, her eyes landing on the empty seat next to Xeno. "Jessica, why don't you go sit next to Xeno? Xeno, please raise your hand." Xeno did as he was asked, raising his hand into the air over his head while staring down at the sketchbook he was drawing in. I took a chance to look at what he was sketching. It was relatively early in the drawing to tell what it was, but I could make out the outline of a tree, and what looked like a human sitting under it. I looked up to find Jessica walking slowly toward us, her eyes still on the ground in front of her. She silently took the seat next to Xeno and opened a sketchbook of her own, staring down at it but not moving to do anything. Roxas and I exchanged a glance, knowing this was going to be a very awkward class period. "Alright, class. Today you will begin your semester projects-" The class groaned before Mrs. Cowan could finish her thought. "Oh, don't be like that. I'm allowing you to work in groups. You will be working with the other three people at your table. You all have the assignment, so I suggest you all get started. You have until the last day before winter break to finish the project. You may turn it in at any point before the dead line. Make sure the name of each member of your group is on the final project." Mrs. Cowan sat down at her desk and the class began talking excitedly about the project. I never thought I'd see an entire class this happy to be doing school work, but I guess weirder things have happened since I moved to this school. Xeno closed his sketchbook suddenly, surprising Roxas and I, and even causing Jessica to look up from her book.

"Alright, I suggest we go ahead and get this thing done so we can get on to more important matters. How about the four of us meet up at the library after school and get this thing done today? Roxas, you've already done your part, right?"

"Yep." Roxas said. He opened his portfolio and extracted a sheet of paper. He turned it around so we could see what was on it. It was a sketched picture of him on a skateboard performing some sort of aerial trick above a half pipe.

"Very nice." Xeno opened his sketchbook and revealed a self-portrait of him kicking a soccer ball into a goal.

"Wow, those are really good, guys." I commented.

"I would hope so. We've been working on these since Mrs. Cowan passed out the assignment." I stared at the two boys in amazement.

"Okay, I know I haven't known you guys for that long, but you seriously don't strike me as the type of people to get things done early."

"We usually aren't." Roxas replied. "We just wanted to get this project out of the way so that we could get a little extra free time while everyone else is working." I heard a mumbling coming from Jessica's direction.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't hear you. What did you say?" Jessica's head shot up to look at me and we stared at each other for a second before she responded.

"Umm," she started. "I asked what the…the assignment was. You know…so I can start working on it."

"Oh, alright. The assignment is we're each supposed to draw a picture us ourselves doing whatever we enjoy doing the most in our free time. Then me combine all of them together into a mural of sorts."

"Oh. That's easy enough." Jessica pulled a pencil out of her pocket and started drawing, quickly sketching out what appeared to be herself in a sitting position.

"So, Namine, have you done your drawing yet?" Roxas asked.

"Of course." I pulled my sketchbook out of my backpack and opened to a page near the back of the book. "Agh, I really need to get a new sketchbook soon. I go through these so fast." I held the picture up for the boys to see. I had drawn myself sitting at a large desk with a sheet of paper in front of me, a half-drawn self-portrait on the drawn paper. There were pencils and erasers covering almost every inch of the desk that was not taken up by the drawing.

"Beautiful."

"Heh, thanks. Yours isn't half bad either, Roxas."

"Hey, I'll have you know that I spent almost three hours working on this." Xeno leaned over the table and whispered in my ear.

"Two and a half of which were spent kicking around a soccer ball." He said this just loud enough for Roxas to hear.

"Which they don't need to know about." Roxas glared at Xeno, but Xeno just smiled innocently at him.

"There, done." Jessica said. We all looked in her direction, completely surprised. She hadn't been working more than ten minutes. She held up her finished work, and we all stared in disbelief. She had drawn herself sitting under a tree with a book in her hand. What surprised me most was that it was in almost realistic detail, probably on par with my own drawing skills.

"Wow, that's amazing." I praised.

"That looks a lot like your drawings, Nam." Roxas observed.

"I noticed."

"Umm, guys?" Jessica waved, drawing our attention from her drawing. "Can we stop gawking and get this finished?" At that moment, the bell rang and everyone started moving around to get his or her supplies together. Roxas, Xeno, Jessica, and I were the first people out of the classroom, being the closest to the door. We started walking towards the library, Jessica a few steps behind since she didn't know where we were going.

"Hey, after we're done what do you say we meet Axel on the clocktower for some ice cream?" Xeno asked, directing the question to Roxas.

"Sure, I'm all for that idea. It's been forever since we've been up there together." Roxas said. "Do you girls have any plans?"

"I'm staying in Kairi and Olette's room for the night, thanks to Xion's flu, but both of them are out doing their own stuff. Kairi's going to be back at around 7, so I've got time to kill until then." I said. We all looked at Jessica, whose eyes were on the ground in front of her. She must have felt our stares, because she looked up at us.

"Oh, uh-um…studying, I guess." she said. "I don't have any friends around here yet."

"Boooooooooring!" Roxas said. "C'mon, you're hanging out with us tonight." We finally made it to the library and entered to find Zexion, Xigbar, the pink-haired Marluxia, and Luxord sitting at one of the tables near the door. Zexion was, as usual, reading a book, and the others were in the middle of a card game. We decided not to disturb them and proceeded to the back of the room and started on our final project. An hour later we left the library with a finished project placed safely in Xeno's backpack, which he would turn in before Biology tomorrow.

"Okay, we're gonna go drop our stuff in our room." Xeno said. "How about we meet at the gates in about 5 minutes?"

"Alright. I'll go leave my things too." I said. Jessica, not wanting to be left on her own without knowing where she was going, chose to walk with me to my dorm. After we left the elevator, I stopped in front of my room and rummaged through my pockets, trying to find my room key.

"Oh, wow. You live right across the hall from me." Jessica said. I finally fished out my key and turned to look at her, but found her nowhere in sight and the door in front of me open. I shrugged and walked into my room after unlocking my door. To my surprise, Xion was not in bed where I had left her. Her pajamas were lying scattered over her side of the room, so I guessed she had gone out for some reason. I decided I would fish the information out of her later. I threw my backpack on my bed and walked out of the room, closing and locking the door behind me. I turned and saw Jessica coming out of the room across the hall, her backpack also absent and a book in her hand. She turned and looked at me after she'd locked the door and smiled slightly, then motioned for me to lead the way. We took the elevator down to the ground floor and met Xeno and Roxas near the school gates. I glanced at my watch and found the time to be 4:25. We had three and a half hours to do almost anything we wanted. Xeno led us outside the school grounds and down several streets and back alleys when we finally came to a stop in front of the Station Heights train station.

"Uh, you guys do know the station's closed for Thanksgiving weekend, don't you?" Something I forgot to mention, it was the week before Thanksgiving, Friday to be exact, so the station gave its employees the week off.

"Obviously." Xeno said with a 'no duh' tone to his voice. "Roxas and I know the janitor, and he gave us each a key to the building so that we could use the clocktower as our hangout. C'mon, you guys have _got _to see the view." Xeno dug a key out of his jacket pocket and used it to open the doors to the station. We followed him inside and Roxas closed and locked the door behind us.

"How exactly are we supposed to get up to the clock tower from here?"

"Just trust us." Roxas said, flirtingly winking at me. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I'm not so innocent that I don't recognize flirting when it's directed at me. Roxas took the lead now, leading us to a maintenance closet next to the ticket booth. Roxas opened the door and waved us inside. I looked at him like he'd grown a second head, and I'm sure Jessica had a similar expression on her face. "Just get in." Xeno went in first, digging past several rows of mops, brooms, and buckets before reaching the back wall where we found an old wooden door built into said wall. Xeno used the same key he'd used to open the front doors and unlocked the hidden doorway. He pushed the door open and revealed a staircase spiraling upward into the tower that rested over the train station.

"Ladies first." Xeno said, gesturing for us to go. I hesitantly went first, stepping out of the closet into the (surprisingly) roomy staircase. It was built like the towers one would find in a medieval castle, made of stone and spiraling around and around, probably all the way to the top of the tower, with stone walls on either side so that anyone climbing the steps stood no danger of falling off the sides. The only difference was the low stone ceiling, only about eight feet above the ground to my eyes, with electrical lights mounted every five feet or so up the stairwell. The ceiling also curved upward, following the staircase at every turn. I heard three sets of footsteps behind me and turned to find Jessica, Roxas, and Xeno had joined me in the stairwell. The bottom of the tower, despite the large stone tube in the center, was more than big enough for all of us to gather at the foot of the staircase. In fact, it was probably large enough to house half of Organization XIII. "Hey, Roxas. You got the key for the top door? I left mine in our dorm."

"Yup. I'm all over it." Roxas pulled out a small two-pronged key and tossed it up in the air, catching it a second later.

"How old is this place?" Jessica asked. It was the first time I'd heard her speak since we left the dorms, so it surprised me a bit. "A two pronged key, medieval tower structure, secret doorways, I mean seriously?"

"Circa 1300s." Xeno replied. "The train station itself is fairly new, but the tower is easily the oldest structure in Twilight Town, and probably most of the surrounding areas. No need to worry, though. It's structurally stable."

"I would hope so. I don't want a bunch of strangers I've only just met leading me into a death trap."

"It'll only be a death trap if Axel's here before us." Roxas said. "Which is quite possible seeing as it's almost 5."

"Besides, I would think we're basically past the strangers point, since only people we really trust are allowed up here." Xeno added. We climbed the stairs, Jessica and I doing so slowly and hesitantly. I could practically hear the tower's structure moaning around us, but the stairs held as we climbed closer to our destination. Finally we reached another door, which opened onto an outdoor area. Xeno and Roxas stood to the side and allowed us to go through the door first. Almost as soon as we were through we were met by a ledge that, upon closer inspection, overlooked the entire east side of the city. Unfortunately, it was also nearly a hundred feet above the ground below us. As soon as I saw this, I jumped back out of pure fright (yeah, I've got acrophobia, so sue me) and right into a body that was standing behind me. Two arms wrapped around my waist and I glanced down to see the sleeves of Roxas's white jacket peeking out from under my arms, with two semi-muscular (don't judge me) arms jutting out to grab my hips protectively. I could hear Roxas's chuckling behind me as I attempted to slow my heartbeat after the traumatic sightseeing experience a few seconds ago.

"Whoa there, cowgirl." Roxas laughed. "This ledge is already pretty narrow. No need for you to be jumping around. You might fall off." Roxas moved his hands from my hips to my shoulders and tried to steer me towards one of the tower corners. I blushed at the excessive contact and knew if I didn't do something I'd probably say something I'd regret. So I decided to satisfy this need by using my right hand to lightly, but still firmly, slap Roxas. "Hey, what was that for?" He asked as he removed his hands from my shoulders. I giggled silently at his hurt tone and he grabbed my shoulders again, this time a bit roughly, and turned me to face him. He moved his hands to my face when I tried to look away to hide my blush at the continued contact. "You see what you did?" He asked as he turned my head so that I was looking at a pink tinted mark that looked strangely like a handprint forming on his cheek. "Now my life goal of becoming a male model is ruined. Thanks a lot Namine." I could hear the joking tone in his voice, but it was obvious he was attempting to sound genuinely hurt.

"Aww, poow Woxas isn't gonna be a mawe mawdel." I said in my fakest baby voice possible. "Let me help you make it all better." I leaned forward, slowly closing the distance between our faces. Roxas stared at me with a slightly scared, though ultimately unreadable, expression. When we were only a few inches apart, and I was almost certain that Roxas thought I was going to kiss him, I raised my hand quickly and slapped his other cheek.

"Ow!" Roxas shouted. "What was that for?" I was laughing so hard that tears were forming in my eyes. Roxas was looking at me angrily, but I could tell that he was trying not to laugh himself.

"The first one was for making fun of me. It's not my fault heights and I don't get along very well. The second one was for molesting my face with those giant meat slabs you call hands." This pushed Roxas over the edge and he burst out laughing right along with me. We stood there laughing together for a few minutes and finally my lungs complained about the lack of oxygen loud enough that I figured it was time to stop. I managed to gather myself and return my breathing patterns to as close to normal as they would get at this height and looked over Roxas's shoulder as he attempted to regain his composure as well. Xeno and Jessica were standing there looking at the two of us like we'd lost our minds.

"So the rumors are true." Jessica mused.

"What, about them?" Xeno asked. "Yeah, just about every rumor you'll hear at school is completely true. They're completely and utterly in love."

"I do not love him/her!" Roxas and I shouted at the same time.

"Could've fooled us. Anyway, if you two are quite done, Axel's probably getting pretty tired of waiting." Xeno pushed past us, being careful not to push us too far towards the edge, and rounded the corner. Jessica giggled and followed his lead.

"There are rumors about us?" Roxas asked once we were alone on the side of the clocktower.

"Apparently." I responded. "I haven't heard anything."

"Neither have I."

"Roxas!" Axel's voice called around the corner. "Stop sucking my cousin's face and get over here! Your ice cream is gonna melt!" I blushed again and turned away to hide it from Roxas.

"Alright, Axel!" Roxas called back. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. They might explode from one of those fireworks you keep in your ass."

"I'll make one of them explode in _your_ pants if you don't get over here and eat. We're gonna be late." I heard Roxas mumble something incoherent under his breath and gestured to the corner Xeno and Jessica had disappeared around.

"We'd better go. He won't hesitate to come over here and grab both of us." I nodded and followed him around the corner.

A/N: Okay, this chapter was originally supposed to be twice as long, probably about 6,500 to 7,000 words, but I figured you guys could live with 3,500. The rest of the chapter will become Chapter 9, and the original Chapter 9 will become Chapter 10. I doubt you guys would want to wait until I rewrote the last quarter of the chapter I lost to my computer crashing anyways.

Next Chapter: Organization XIII Revealed


	9. The Organization Revealed

A/N: Sorry about the wait guys. Right after I got finished cleaning up from Irene I ended up getting chosen to be the Battalion Executive Officer for my Army JROTC program. For those of you who don't know how JROTC works, that basically means I have to spend all of my free time planning events and fixing my staff's work so that it fits standards. Finally got some free time tonight, but I'll be uber busy again starting tomorrow. I'll work as hard as I can to keep up a fairly decent update speed, but I can't guarantee anything great.

Chapter 9: Organization XIII Revealed

We found our friends sitting at the edge of the clock tower, eating some sort of light blue ice cream. Axel was on the far left, followed by Xeno, then Jessica, who looked a bit uncomfortable about being there, and…XION?

"Xion, what are you doing here?" I asked. My roommate looked up from the conversation she was having with Xeno and Axel and smiled innocently.

"H-hey, Nami." Xion said.

"Don't 'Hey Nami' me!" I shouted. "You're supposed to be in bed!"

"I got better! Besides, Axel called and said we were all meeting for ice cream, and it's been so long since the four of us have had ice cream together, I just couldn't turn it down."

"Why don't you two settle this disagreement later?" Axel suggested. "We need to hurry this little reunion up."

"Why?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"The Superior has called a meeting of the Organization tonight." Xeno said. I glanced at him and saw he had once again donned the black coat I'd seen many members of Organization XIII wear on a daily basis. Axel and Xion also wore their coats. "By the way, you're going to need this, Roxas." He pulled a second coat from next to him and tossed it to Roxas, who quickly put it on. Roxas grabbed a pair of black shoes from Xion and replaced his shoes with them. Roxas sat down in a gap between Axel and Xeno and took an ice cream of the same color as the others' from Axel's hand. He was soon engaged in some conversation with Axel and Xeno. I stood there looking between the four Organization members, having no idea what to do. Xion noticed my uncomfortable look and waved me over.

"C'mon Nami, sit down." she said. "I've got an ice cream for you too. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll love it." I hesitantly took a seat next to Xion and took the ice cream she held out to me. I looked at it for a minute, deciding whether or not to try it and finally took a bite. "So…?"

"It's salty…" I started. "…but sweet. I like it!" Xion laughed at my overzealous reaction.

"I knew you would."

"How come I've never seen this before?" Jessica asked. I looked over at her and noticed she also had an ice cream. "I've never had anything remotely like this in Destiny Islands or Radiant Garden."

"That's because only two towns around here sell it." Roxas said. "Hollow Bastion and Twilight Town both have the recipe. Other towns have tried to recreate it, but none of them have pulled it off."

"It's delicious." I said. We engaged in conversation for a while longer and soon the sun was setting over the horizon. So far I'd managed to avoid looking down at what was sitting beneath us and just looked across at the beautiful scene in front of me.

"Hey, guys." Axel said, catching everyone's attention. "Bet you don't know why the sun sets red."

"Oh, this'll be good." Roxas laughed.

"Please enlighten us, oh wise Axel." Xeno added, laughing as well.

"Fine, I will." Axel said. "You see light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all of those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

"You heard it here first, folks! Axel actually said something smart!" We all burst out laughing at the comment.

"Oh, shove it, Allens."

"Gladly. Where would you like it?"

"Up your ass."

"I'm not a contortionist. You'll have to talk to Larxene. Maybe she can help you learn how to do that."

"And knowing her, she probably would." Xion whispered to me. I burst into a fit of giggles. I got the sudden urge to look at my watch and noticed the time. 7:53.

"Ah!" I exclaimed, jumping up, though doing so carefully. "It's almost 8! There's no way we'll make it back to school in time. We're so screwed!" Jessica shot me a worried glance as well and also got up.

"If we run we might be able to make it." she suggested.

"Don't worry about it." Xeno said. He leaned back so that his back was on the floor of the ledge. "We'll cover you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Xeno, you know Xemnas won't like that." Axel said.

"Like we have a choice. Would you prefer they get busted by Principle Eraqus?"

"Point taken. Alright, let me call ahead and let Xigbar know that they're coming with us." Axel pulled out his cell phone and started dialing.

"Coming where?" I asked. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You two are coming with us to the Organization meeting." Roxas said. "Xemnas isn't in town much, so Eraqus lets us break curfew on nights he is in so that we can meet. As long as you two are with us you won't be in trouble for breaking curfew." Axel returned his cell phone to his coat pocket.

"Alright, Xigbar knows we're bringing them. He'll make sure Xemnas knows."

"Good." Xion said. "We'd better get going then. We've got a ways to walk and we're already going to be on thin ice as is. It's best for all of us that we aren't late." Xion, Roxas, Xeno, and Axel stood up and brushed off their coats. Axel and Xeno led the way down the spiral staircase to the train station, followed by Jessica and I, then Roxas and Xion. Once we left the station Axel locked the doors behind us and joined us in the square.

"Alright, let's establish a few rules here before we head into the war zone." He switched his gaze between Jessica and I. We both nodded. "Let us do all the talking. You have no idea what kinds of freaks you're dealing with in the Organization, and a few of them would sooner rip you limb from limb than talk to you."

"Also, if Vexen offers you anything to drink, don't take it. Chances are it's full of poison or some other dangerous substance. He likes using unsuspecting people as guinea pigs to test his experiments."

"And stay as far away from Saix as possible." Roxas added. "He'll probably try to stab you with a rusty pipe if he gets anywhere within 20 feet of you."

"And last, but _most important_, do NOT under any circumstances play cards with Luxord." Xeno finished. "_Especially_ if there's a bet involved. He'll take everything you own, including the clothes off your backs if you aren't careful."

"Don't ask him how he knows that." Xion mumbled with a giggle.

"I'm sorry, what was that, Kitten?" Xeno held a hand to his ear, as if he hadn't heard her, even though he apparently did. Xion's face turned a darker shade of red than the sunset behind us at the comment. I smirked at the sight and made a note to ask my roommate about the new name when we got back to our dorm.

"Shut up."

"If you two are quite done-" Axel interjected. "-we need to get going. The meeting starts in twenty." Xeno and Xion quit their bickering and Axel led us from Station Square and through Market Street and Tram Commons until we reached a hole in the wall I'd never noticed before.

"Home sweet home." Roxas chuckled. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't seem to notice. Axel led us on a spiraling path through a wooded area beyond the hole until we reached a huge open field in front of an old iron gate. Through the gate I could see the front wall of a two story mansion that looked in dire need of some paint and a few repairs. Many of the statues in the lawn were falling apart, heads, arms, and entire bodies resting on the grass.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"The Old Mansion." Xion said simply.

"And you've led us to an old mansion that could possibly be haunted with zombies, vampires, werewolves, and god knows what else because?" Jessica asked. I had to admit, I wasn't exactly gung ho about waltzing into a place like this myself. At this point the sun was well past set, forcing us to travel by the light of the stars and moon, and the mansion didn't exactly look an appealing sight in the darkness, even with several lights visible through the curtains in the windows.

"Because we're saving you from Mr. Eraqus's wrath." Axel said. "Trust me, whatever we find in there is much better than him in a bad mood."

"Plus the scariest thing we'll see in there is Saix in a temper, which is pretty much a constant thing these days, and maybe another of Vexen's 'experiments.' Roxas said, using air quotes on the last word. Xeno snorted.

"Yeah, like we need to deal with another explosion." he said. Axel opened the door and gestured us inside. I wasn't really surprised to find the inside of the mansion in almost as bad condition as the outside. What appeared to be a small model of an elegant castle was falling apart in the middle of the spacious foyer which was mostly devoid of any other furniture. Numerous suits of armor lay in pieces around the room, and one had fallen over to block a door on the left wall. The door was lit only by a lit fireplace positioned on the right wall, centered between two doors.

"Yuck...how long has it been since you guys cleaned up?" Jessica asked. She rubbed one of her fingers over the blank wall and pulled it back to reveal a thick layer of dust coating it.

"Why bother?" Roxas asked. "We're only here once or twice a month, and we don't use the place for anything except Organization meetings, so we never saw any reason to clean it. We spend most of our time here in the basement anyway. C'mon. We need to get up to the library." Axel and Roxas led us up a flight of stairs on the other side of the foyer onto the balcony overlooking the huge room and to a door on the right wall. Axel pulled a key out of his pocket and used it to unlock the door. As soon as Axel removed the key, the door opened slightly on its own with a loud groan.

"Am I the only one having second thoughts about doing this?" Jessica whispered so only I could hear. I simply nodded my head, too scared to find any form of voice to speak with. Axel pushed the door the remainder of the way open, eliciting more groaning from the rusted hinges, and proceeded inside. Once I was inside the brighter room I looked around and found the entire room surrounded by bookshelves traveling from floor to ceiling, which were covered by many old books with names I couldn't read either because of their age or the language. There didn't appear to be another exit, and we were the only ones in the room.

"Okay, I give. Where are we supposed to go from here?" I asked. I was surprised I managed to find my voice. Axel glanced at me and put on that oh-so-annoying Axel smirk that I hated with every part of my being. He pulled at the head of a dragon statue positioned on one of the shelves. The statue's head flipped up, revealing a hidden button on the inside (A/N: I figured it made more sense in this world that drawing on a table). Axel pushed the button and the entire floor, save the small strip we were standing on, began to lower itself. Stairs began forming on the left side of the room as the floor got lower. Once the floor stopped descending an electronic door opened below us.

"This is the part we tend to keep a little cleaner." Xeno stated. Rather than taking the stairs, he, Roxas, and Axel jumped feet first to the floor below and landed perfectly. I saw Xion roll her eyes as she, Jessica, and I headed for the stairs.

"Would you three care to quit showing off?" Xion asked once we rejoined them. The three boys exchanged glances, then simultaneously shook their heads.

"Nah." They said in complete unison. Zexion suddenly popped up behind the three boys, startling them. Hell, I'd have been surprised if their pants were still dry as high as they jumped.

"Do you four plan on standing around all evening, or are you going to join us?" Zexion asked. He pointed at his watch. "Five minutes." His eyes turned to Jessica and I, where we were standing behind Xion. "Hello, Namine. I was wondering how long it would be before you joined us here."

"Really?" I asked. Zexion was one of the more friendly members of Organization XIII that I'd met, but even he seemed opposed to all the time I spent with them whenever I saw him. But now, he looked genuinely pleased to see me.

"Yes, of course." Zexion shot me one of his faint smiles. "I knew eventually Roxas or Xion would end up bringing you to meet us." He seemed to notice Jessica for the first time when he glanced over my shoulder. "Oh, hello. I don't think we've met."

"We haven't." Jessica said simply. I looked over my shoulder at her, and saw that she had developed a sudden interest in her shoes. It seemed like she'd gone back to the reserved girl Xeno, Roxas, and I had met in Art class earlier that day.

"Okay... Zexion, this is Jessica." I introduced. "She just moved here, and she's living across the hall from Xion and I. Jessica, this is Zexion. He's a good friend of ours." Zexion stepped out from behind the guys and took her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, madame." he said in a bad French accent, kissing the top of her hand. I noticed Xeno glaring at the back of Zexion's head. If looks could kill, I was pretty sure Zexion would be a pile of ashes. Jessica giggled.

"The pleasure is all mine."

"Don't we have somewhere to be?" Xeno interjected. "The last thing we need right now is Xemnas getting pissed at us." Zexion looked up from his interaction with Jessica and smirked like there was some kind of inside joke that only he understood, and I noticed Xeno's scowl deepen even further.

"Of course. Come. Everyone else has already gathered." Zexion led the way through a door that I deduced he had come through to meet us, through a room with a large computer with multiple monitors set up in a sort of half-sphere around a large black leather chair, and into a rectangular room that was filled with several other people. I recognized the blonde antennae that adorned the top of Larxene's head, the long, pink hair that belonged to Marluxia, the short blond hair and long, black ponytail that belonged to Luxord and Xigbar, and the blonde mullet that was Demyx.

"Wow, there are a lot of people here." Jessica observed.

"Yup." Axel responded. "These are the other members of Organization XIII. Now if you'll excuse me, I think Luxord is trying to convince Larxene to play a game of strip poker. I need to see where this goes." Axel walked off, rubbing his hands together.

"Typical Axel." Roxas grumbled. "Alright, I guess I'll tell you who everyone is. Namine, you already know Luxord, Larxene, Xigbar, Demyx, Marluxia, and...Vexen to an extent." Roxas pointed at each of the familiar teenagers and the old man who was scowling at some joke Xigbar had just told Demyx. "That's Xaldin." Roxas pointed to a tall man with long black hair that was tied into dreadlocks who stood off to the side talking to Zexion, who had left us as we entered the room. "Lexaeus." An extremely tall and bulky man with short brown hair stood in the corner of the room, far away from the others. "Saix." A man with long blue hair and an x-shaped scar on his face. "And that..." Roxas finished, pointing at a man with a dark tan and long silver hair. "...Is Xemnas, our superior."

"Try not to get on his bad side." Xeno advised. "Xemnas in a bad mood is at least twice as bad as anything you could possibly imagine." Xemnas looked over at the four of us and I thought I could see a slight scowl on his face for a split second, but then it was gone. Xemnas smiled and walked over to us.

"Xion. Xeno. Roxas." Xemnas said, nodding to the three. "Nice of you to make it tonight."

"Our pleasure, Superior." Xeno, Xion, and Roxas said in unison, almost as if they had planned it.

"And who are these young ladies?"

"This is Namine and Jessica." Xeno said.

"Ah, yes. Xigbar told me you would be bringing some...friends with you." I heard Xemnas hesitate slightly before saying _friends_ like he didn't think the word described us.

"We promise, they won't get in the way." Xion said. "We'll be gone as soon as the meeting's over." Xemnas raised an eyebrow at my roommate.

"I would expect as much. All of you know my policies concerning outsiders. Now come, we must convene."

"Yes, Superior." Xion, Roxas, and Xeno bowed again and walked with Xemnas towards a large, rectangular table where the other Organization XIII members had taken seats. Xemnas sat at the head of the table, with Xigbar, Vexen, Zexion, Axel, Luxord, Larxene, and Xion to his right and Xaldin, Lexaeus, Saix, Demyx, Marluxia, Roxas, and Xeno to his left. Roxas motioned for me to stand behind his chair and Xeno did the same for Jessica.

"Welcome, Organization XIII." Xemnas spoke. "The meeting will begin."

"As you will, Superior." 14 other voices spoke.

"Now, down to business. Xigbar, what news of Seifer? Does he still cause trouble?"

"Yes, Superior." Xigbar replied. "Roxas prevented him from harming a young Freshman on the first day of school, and Axel barely prevented the hospitalization of a junior later that same day. Seifer was given a two month suspension, in which he was confined to his room, and he was released yesterday to return to school."

"Do you believe he has learned his lesson?" Xigbar laughed openly at the question.

"As if. I'd believe that the same day he can land a punch on me." Xemnas nodded thoughtfully.

"Very well. You and the younger members will continue to keep him and his gang of troublemakers out of trouble."

"Yes, Superior."

"And I hope to see a recommendation for the next leader of the high school group at next month's meeting."

"As you wish, Superior."

"Good. Now, Saix. What news on the search?" Saix launched into a long list of details about something I didn't understand. All I could gather was that whatever he was looking for was very important to Xemnas, and had to be found as quickly as possible. The 15 Organization members spent the next hour exchanging information about several things that made no sense to me. And from the looks I caught on Jessica's face when I looked at her, her guess was probably as good as mine. Finally Xemnas dismissed us and Xeno, Xion, and Roxas led Jessica and I from the old mansion and through the woods. When we finally returned to school Xeno exchanged a few words with the campus police officer on duty and we were allowed inside without so much as a sidelong glance.

"Okay, you should be good to go now." Roxas said once we reached the crossroads that led to the dorms on the opposite sides of campus. "Eraqus and the campus cops shouldn't give you any trouble about being late tonight."

"Thanks, guys." I said. Roxas grinned and I had to turn away to hide my blush.

"Always happy to help." Roxas turned and walked towards the boys' dorms, holding up a hand in farewell.

"Guess I should get going too." Xeno said as he watched after Roxas. He turned to us. "Goodnight, ladies." He turned and walked after the blonde.

"Night." Xion said and turned towards the girls' dorms.

"Goodnight." I said. I was about to walk after my roommate when I noticed Jessica hadn't moved from where she'd stopped. I looked in the direction she was staring and saw that she was staring at Xeno's back. A glance back at her face revealed that she was blushing. Putting two and two together was no difficult task. "You like him." Jessica's gaze shot to me, like I'd just woken her from a trance.

"What?" she asked, a little bit too loud. "I do not." I giggled and took her hand.

"If you say so. Come on. Why don't you stay in Xion and my room tonight? We've got all manner of games, and since it's the weekend there's no lights out time. We can have a girls' night tonight." Jessica laughed at my enthusiasm.

"Alright, why not." Jessica let me pull her all the way back to the dorms and to our hallway. I waited outside in the hall while Jessica gathered her essentials, pajamas, a change of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. We walked into my room and found Xion lounging in one of the beanbag chairs that we'd added to the room recently, playing a game I didn't recognize on the XBOX.

"Jessica's going to stay in here tonight." I stated.

"Okay, cool." Xion relied without turning her attention from the game on the screen. "I just restocked the snack drawer. Grab what you want."

"Alright." I grabbed a bag of chips from the drawer of junk food Xion and I kept in Xion's desk and a soda from the mini-fridge and plopped down in a second chair next to the black-haired girl. Jessica had taken the other chair with a soda of her own. "What's the game?"

"Assassin's Creed 2." Xion responded. I watched as the character she was controlling leapt from the top of a building into a cart of hay. He climbed out only to be attacked by a dozen guys with swords and bows and died quickly.

"Not very good, are you?" Jessica asked, trying to suppress a laugh at Xion's bad playing.

"I used to be, but I'm out of practice. There's a new game coming out soon, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and I'm trying to get practiced up before it comes out."

"I heard about that. I'm thinking about getting it too. The multiplayer sounds like a good challenge."

"Cool. Maybe we could play each other sometime."

"Definitely." My phone went off while the girls were discussing who their favorite character was. I picked it up after I saw Roxas's name on the caller ID.

"Hey, Roxas. What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing much." I heard a loud crash on the other line and a couple of shouts. I remembered that Roxas, Xeno, and Axel all shared a room, and for the first time I wondered how much of a mess the room was with three guys living there. "Would you two quit?" Roxas shouted. "I'm trying to talk to Namine."

"Oh, Namine, is it?" I heard Axel ask. There was a huge commotion and another shout. "Hey, Nami." Axel was now speaking to me directly.

"Uh hey, Axel." I said. "What happened to Roxas?"

"Nothing I just stole his phone."

"Well, give it back, would you?" Roxas asked. "I'm trying to ask them if they want to come."

"Oh, fine. You're such a party pooper, you know that, Roxy?"

"Not my name." Roxas said simply like they'd had the conversation before. I heard rustling as he took the phone from Axel. "So anyway, Namine, I was wondering if you, Xion, and Jessica wanted to join Xeno and I for a friendly game of laser tag tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure, but isn't five people a little small for a game of laser tag?" I asked.

"Yeah, but Sora, Kairi, Riku, Hayner, and Olette are coming as well. Sora actually invited us and asked us to invite you."

"Okay, let me ask." I held my hand over the receiver and looked to Xion and Jessica, who had begun a game of Co-op on Marvel Ultimate Alliance. "Hey, you guys want to go play laser tag with the guys tomorrow?"

"Are Riku and his friends coming?" I smiled when Xion mentioned Riku. They had hit it off pretty well at the pool and they had become decent friends, but I sensed that there could possibly be something more between them. And the more time they spent together the quicker they'd hook up. 'Yikes.' I thought to myself. 'I'm starting to sound like Kairi.'

"Yes, Riku's coming."

"I'm in."

"Sure, I guess." Jessica replied. I nodded and went back to the phone.

"Alright, we'll be there." I told Roxas. "When should we meet you?"

"How about we all meet outside the campus gates tomorrow at around noon?" Roxas suggested. "It'll be impossible to get Sora out of bed before then." I laughed at the truth behind those words. Whenever he wasn't obligated to go to school Sora slept like a log most of the morning. On weekends we considered it a miracle to see him up before 11.

"Okay, we'll meet you there."

"Cool. See you tomorrow, then."

"Yep."

"Night. Love you." With that Roxas hung up. I put my phone back in my pocket and joined in on Xion and Jessica's game. It was a few minutes before what Roxas said registered in my mind.

"Wait, did he say-" I cut myself off when I noticed Xion and Jessica looking at me expectantly. "Never mind." They exchanged glances, shrugged, and we went back to the game. I knew this was going to be going somewhere tomorrow, but where exactly I had no clue.

"So, Jessica." Xion started. "What brings you all the way from Radiant Garden to Twilight Town?" Jessica turned her gaze to the screen in front of her and didn't answer momentarily.

"It's sort of a long story." she mumbled. I got the idea of what she was getting at immediately. It was obviously a sore subject.

"If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to." I said.

"No, it's okay. I'd actually sort of like to talk about it, and I think I can trust you both. Would you mind locking the door though? I'm not ready for everyone to know what's going on." Xion nodded. She got up and locked the door while I made sure the bathroom door was closed and locked.

"Okay. No one's going to bother us." Xion assured.

"Alright. First you'll need to know a little about me. I was born in Destiny Islands. My dad left my mom to raise my sister, Emily, and I on her own when I was ten. She married my step-father, who's the CEO of some big petroleum purifying company, a few years later. My mom, sister, and I moved to Radiant Garden to live with him. Since my step-dad is a businessman, he doesn't have much time for anything other than work. The only other thing he did was be with my mom. He didn't care about me or Emily. In fact, all he seems to do is try to pull my mom further and further away from us. I finally got fed up with it and ran away a few weeks ago. I'm here on an academic scholarship to pay my tuition. After I finish high school I'm going to get a job and an apartment, and I'm going to bring Emily here to live with me."

"Wait, you ran away?"

"Yes. I couldn't deal with watching that bastard of a step-father tear our family apart any more."

"Couldn't your dad, like, extradite you or something?" I asked.

"He could, but I'd be willing to bet that he won't bother. He's probably glad I'm gone, in fact. Unfortunately I didn't have much to bring with me. A few changes of clothes and some basic essentials."

"Well, if you need anything you can always ask us." Xion said.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be alright." Jessica yawned suddenly, causing Xion and I to yawn as well. "Well, I'm beat. Anyone else for bed?" We agreed and took to bed, sleeping on the beanbag chairs with blankets over us.

A/N: Sorry again about the wait. I know the end's a little rushed, but I wanted to get this chapter finished. If you think I should go back and rewrite it, please feel free to tell me. I'd be more than happy to change some things if anyone thinks I should.

Next Chapter: Fashion Shopping and Laser Tag


	10. Profile Update

To my loyal readers:

I hope you all haven't missed me too much. Being a high school senior, having a part time job that keeps me busy anywhere from 20 to 30 hours a week, and acting as a high-ranking member of my high school's JROTC program doesn't give me a lot of free time that I can use for things other than homework and what small social life I may or may not have.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you all this: I _do _intent to continue writing. I'm sure many of you are angry (or slightly disgruntled at the very least) that I have not updated many of my fanfictions in quite a while, but rest assured that nothing that is currently in progress on my profile is going to be deleted or discontinued. Everything will be finished eventually. With my last semester as a high school student finally begun, I've enjoyed the discovery that my schedule has cleared the air in front of me quite a bit. This means that I will be able to write more, and spend more time cooperating with my close friend Cdc100 on several ideas we've been working on for new stories. So right now I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about everything I'm working on and all my plans for the near future.

Prince's Return- For those who haven't read it, Prince's Return is the third story in a continuing series of Code Lyoko fanfictions, which started with my first fanfiction, Xana's Apprentice. I do plan on continuing this, but I'm having a MAJOR case of writer's block (like, a two-year-long case, if it wasn't obvious). Right now I'm going to stay with my original plans and keep this story on hiatus until I finish rewriting it's predecessors.

Virus Series Rewrites- Due to aging and changes in my writing style, I found the original versions of my first few stories to be a little haphazard in quality to say the least, so I decided to rewrite them. I may or may not keep the originals up, that's up to you guys. You can feel free to tell me what you think in reviews. I _am _still working on these. I'm mostly finished with Xana's Apprentice and parts of Xana's Revenge are also complete. However, I don't want to make the changes to the published chapters until I've finished both.

Cards of Lyoko- This story is actually mostly the work of Cdc100's expert hand, while I simply do the editing and posting. Due to the popping up of a few new ideas on my part, this is also possibly going to be rewritten. However, updates will not continue until Prince's Return is complete.

Memories of the Past- This story is a work I took up from an idea created by Fanfiction user NoWordsDiscribeMe. Many people have voiced their approval of what I've done so far in this story, and I'll let them know that I am still working on it from time to time. As my current work comes to an end this story will begin to see more and more updates.

Namine's Grace- This is the story that is currently taking up the majority of my writing time. It is also my favorite work so far, although that doesn't say much for its quality, as it is not something I began writing for myself, but for a friend who is very close to me and was, at the time, going through a rough patch after breaking up with her boyfriend of two years. I chose to finish this story first because, besides it being my favorite, it also makes my friend much happier. There is also the continued support of the few loyal readers who still follow me and voted for me to finish this first. This is my continued plan, and I have many ideas for where I could take the story from here.

That's all for my current stuff. Now I'll tell you all a bit about what I have planned for the future.

Number XV- A personal rewrite of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days containing my Nobody OC, Xeno, who appears in Namine's Grace. This story will not follow the plot of the game to a tee, but it will contain most if not all of the game's major plot points, just with my added OC. I may or may not change the ending sequence of the game to fit my own personal belief of how Roxas and Xion's story with the Organization should have ended. Again, up to you guys.

Untitled Sequel to Prince's Return- I originally planned to finish off the Virus timeline at Prince's Return and move on to other things, but new ideas have started popping into my head about a possible sequel, so I decided to go through with it. This story will take place a few months after Prince's Return ends, as Dartz finally returns to school in France. My reason for continuing the series past its original intended end is that I'm just not happy with how it's planned to turn out being the final ending to the series, more for personal reasons than artistic reasons. I won't say any more here, for fear of spoilers and possible hate mail.

Lightning Strikes- Although through my rewrites I wrote the Xiaolin Showdown crossover out of the Virus series, Auron was the first OC I ever created, and I simply didn't want to let him go without at least giving him some screen time. So this will be a Xiaolin Showdown story centering around how the Dragons meet Auron and how they become a team.

Untitled Pokemon x Code Lyoko crossover- A work between Cdc100 and myself, which has been in the works for some time but has yet to come past its planning phase. Since August I've had two polls asking viewer opinions on certain points of planning in the story, and so far two votes have been cast for one, and only one for the other. This is partially my fault for not foreseeing the lack of activity on my profile and advertising the polls using Author notes in my stories. So here I'm going to do just that. For two weeks after this note is posted I will have a viewer opinion poll up on my profile. If you are interested in this story, please give us your opinions. As soon as the poll is closed I will announce the results in a profile update and the second poll will be posted. Once these two polls are finished, the results will be announced and we will begin working on the story itself.

Now that that's done, I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about what I do outside of writing fanfictions. As I've told you all before, I'm a high school senior. I have a girlfriend, who has been with me and somehow put up with every single thing I've done, good and bad (mostly the latter), for the past two years. I have a past as an avid gamer, but this has become more of a recreation for me over the past few years. My main hobby is the Army JROTC program at my high school, where I hold the Battalion Executive Officer position after three years in the program. My grades are decent, mostly A's and B's with the occasional C here and there. I plan to go to college, though where I will go I have not yet decided. My future plans are to commission in the Army as an officer in the Military Police Corps with a forensics background.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this update, and I hope everyone has had their questions answered. If anyone has a question to ask about something I've said here, or if you have advice or ideas, please feel free to ask it in a review or a PM.

Dartz the Fire Demon


	11. Fashion Shopping and Laser Tag

After this I don't expect to have much time to write until about mid-April when Spring Break comes around since the first half of the next semester will require my almost constant regulation of ROTC business and I'll be busy with college work for the majority of my free time.

Chapter 10: Fashion Shopping and Laser Tag

The next morning Xion, Jessica, and I got up with Xion's alarm at 8:00. I called Roxas early that morning and we agreed to meet at the laser tag arena at noon instead of in front of the school so that Xion and I could take Jessica shopping on Market Street before we met up with the others. Jessica seemed reluctant to let us take her shopping, but we wouldn't take no for an answer. Once all three of us were dressed we practically had to drag her off campus.

"I already told you, I don't want to go shopping!" Jessica shouted.

"You'll need to learn your way around town at some point." Xion said. "What better way than by going on a shopping adventure?"

"Why shopping? Why can't we just walk around and you show me the sights?"

"Because you need a new wardrobe. You said so yourself. And I'm friends with the owner of one of the local clothing stores, so we'll get a good discount."

"Still, why shopping?"

"Because you need to look good for Xeno." I replied. Jessica shot a surprised glance at me.

"What does Xeno have to do with anything?" Xion and I exchanged knowing glances.

"Well, you obviously like him, so naturally you should make a good impression on him."

"I do not like Xeno!"

"Don't deny it, Jess. We saw the way you were looking at him yesterday."

"With Namine's fashion sense combined with my best-friend knowledge of Xeno, we'll make you an absolute magnet for his affections." Xion added.

"I don't want to be a magnet for anyone's affections!" Jessica said. "I want to be myself, and that probably means not wearing whatever you two think is appropriate."

"Exactly what someone who has no sense of fashion would say." I said.

"Who'd you quote that from?" Xion asked.

"Kairi. She's got all kinds of cracks like that. I've always wanted to use one of them. Ooh, here's a good place." We stopped in front of a small, quiet-looking store called The Faeries' Fashion Shop. It was never overly busy, but according to Kairi the owners can work wonders with fabric and wake an outfit for almost anyone. I led the way inside and heard a bell tinkling somewhere further back in the shop. The building may have looked small on the outside, but it was absolutely giant on the inside. There were shelves from wall to wall with all kinds of designer jeans, skirts, shirts, and any other kind of clothing one could possibly imagine. Three short, old women walked quickly out of the back of the store. Well, not really walked, as much as glided. They moved so gracefully, it seemed like their feet never touched the floor. Each woman was dressed in a different color, red, blue, or green, from head to toe.

"Hello, dearies." the woman dressed in red greeted. "It's so nice to see such bright and smiling faces so early this morning. Welcome to the Fairies' Fashion Shop. How may we help you?"

"We were hoping you could help our friend here out with a little fashion magic." Xion said, indicating Jessica.

"Really?" the green-dressed woman asked, more in surprise than as an actual question. "She seems quite comfortable in what she's wearing right now."

"She's got a thing for one of our other friends, and we're getting her ready for a sort of group date with him" I explained. "She doesn't have much in the form of date clothes, so we decided to take her shopping. My cousin said you might be able to help us in the right direction."

"Say no more, we'll get to work right away." the woman in red said. "Come, come, dear. Let's have a look at you." Xion nudged Jessica forward a bit and she hesitantly stepped closer to stand right in front of the women. "What do you think, dears?"

"She's got a good natural beauty to her." the woman in blue said. "I don't think too much makeup will be necessary. Just a bit to make her facial features pop a bit. I've got just the thing. Let me go get it." The woman disappeared back into the back of the store.

"It may be a date, but we want her to feel comfortable in what she's wearing." the green woman said. "Is this your normal style, dear?" Jessica nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." The woman giggled.

"Oh, there won't be any need for any of that nonsense. Please, call me Fauna."

"And you can call me Flora." the woman in red added. "Our sister is Merryweather. Now, we'll need to do something with your hair. It's nice and long, but I think we can style it a bit and make it look nicer. What sort of date is this, dears?"

"We're playing Laser Tag with some friends." Xion answered. Flora nodded.

"We'll need to get it out of the way, then. A ponytail will do nicely. What do you say, dear?"

"O-oh, s-sure." Jessica stuttered. It was obvious she wasn't very comfortable, but it would be worth it to see her and Xeno get together today.

Later

"Ugh, get this stuff off me." Jessica complained, trying for the umpteenth time to wipe the makeup off her face. We hadn't really applied that much, but it was obvious she wasn't used to wearing any at all. In place of the jeans and plain black t-shirt she was wearing earlier, Jessica was now garbed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a white shirt. Her sneakers had been replaced with a pair of silver sandals and most of her hair was pulled up into a neat pony tail while some shorter strands were left to hang at the sides of her face. Her other clothes were stored in a duffel bag held in Xion's hand.

"There they are." I said, pointing to a group of seven people. Now that I saw them together, I could see the family resemblance between Roxas and Sora. Besides their hair color, they looked almost like twins.

"Hey, guys." Xion called. The others turned toward us. Xeno took one look at Jessica and I noticed the smile on his face falter slightly, but I couldn't tell if it was from surprise or disappointment.

"There you are." Roxas said. "Are you guys ready to play?"

"Sure." I said.

"Okay. The ref says we need to divide into two teams. Who's where?"

"Obviously you, Xion, and I are going to be together." Xeno said. Roxas smirked.

"Obviously. The dream team needs to stick together."

"Kairi and I will be on the other team." Sora added.

"We need to have Namine and Jessica on our side, too." Xion said.

"Sure." Roxas agreed, barely letting Xion finish her sentence. "That means Hayner, Olette, and Riku are with Sora and Kairi."

"Okay." Kairi said. She grabbed Sora and Olette's hands and turned to head into one of the waiting rooms. "See you guys on the inside!" Kairi pulled the two unlucky teens behind her as she dashed off, Riku and Hayner walking at their own pace and shaking their heads at her eagerness.

"I'm gonna go to the restroom before we get started." Xion said. "I'll meet you guys in the lobby." Xion walked off towards the large neon 'BATHROOMS' sign, leaving the bag with Jessica's clothes on the floor.

"What do you say we go get our team signed up, Namine?" Roxas asked. I looked at him and smiled.

"Sure." Roxas and I walked over to the ref who was waiting by the waiting lobby, leaving Xeno and Jessica alone. I figured they could use a little time so Xeno could get acquainted with the new Jessica.

-Xeno P.O.V-

"Are you okay?" I asked almost immediately after Roxas and Namine left.

"Of course I am." Jessica said. She smiled, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You don't look comfortable. I've only known you for one day, but I can tell you aren't used to wearing something that..." I hesitated, trying to think of a suitable word. "...girly." Jessica sighed.

"You're right, I'm not. I can't remember a day of my life I've worn something other than jeans or sweats."

"Then why wear that?" Jessica scowled.

"Namine and Xion have some stupid idea that I have feelings for...someone, and they think this'll catch his attention."

"Well, it's certainly caught my attention, but not in a good way. You should wear what you're comfortable wearing, especially at something like this. You'll need to be able to move freely, and I can guarantee you that second skin of yours isn't going to allow that. Plus, if you do have feelings for this guy and he feels the same, he won't care if you wear something comfortable. He'd want you to be you."

"That's what I think too, but those two are persistent. They literally dragged me shopping with them this morning." Jessica groaned. "Man, I wish I could just put my other clothes back on, but Xion's not letting me have them."

"You mean these?" I held up a bag that Xion had left when she left to use the restroom. "Here, go change. There's another restroom in our waiting room over there." I handed her the bag and pointed to where Namine and Roxas had gone inside with the ref. Jessica took the bag and smiled.

"Thanks. You have no idea how happy I'll be to get out of these things." Her smile suddenly turned upside down. "But what about Namine? She'll never let me in there."

"Let me take care of her." I said. "When she turns her back, go as quietly as you can to the restroom."

"Okay." I turned and walked inside, leaving the door open behind me so Jessica could see me, and struck up a conversation with Roxas and Namine.

-Namine POV-

"Are we okay to go?" Xeno asked as he joined Roxas and I in the waiting room.

"Yup." Roxas answered. "We're just waiting for the game before us to finish. The referee needs to tell us the rules after that and we're good to go."

"Where's Jessica?" I asked, having noticed she wasn't with us.

"She said she needed to use the restroom." Xeno said. "Hey, Roxas, you think we should start fitting Namine with her equipment while we wait for the girls?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Roxas agreed. "We'll get Jessica when she gets back, and Xion already knows what she needs."

"Alright. C'mon, let's start with the body armor." Xeno and Roxas led me to one of the walls, where sets of armor were mounted from one end of the room to the other. Although they were in order of size, it took us several minutes to find something that wasn't too loose or too tight. Xion soon joined us and grabbed a set of armor mounted a few feet away.

"Where's Jessica?" She asked.

"She wasn't in the bathroom with you?" Roxas asked. "Xeno said she needed to go."

"She's probably using the other one." Xeno said. He nodded at the bathroom that was attached to their waiting room.

"I guess." Xion said. "She'd better not be skipping out on laser tag. We didn't get her all prettied up for nothing." Xion suddenly gasped and we all turned to look at her. "I just realized, I left her stuff out in the lobby. I'd better go grab it."

"Don't bother." Jessica said. I turned and saw her walking toward us from the bathrooms. She had changed back into her black shirt, jeans, and sneakers, but her hair remained in a ponytail. "I'm guessing you're looking for this." Jessica tossed the bag to Xion.

"Jessica!" I whined. "You're supposed to be dressed up, remember?" Jessica narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

"I _am _dressed up. For laser tag. All that crap you two had me wearing wasn't exactly easy to maneuver in. Though I like the ponytail. It keeps my hair out of the way really well."

"But what about your crush?" Xion asked. Jessica turned her glare to the raven-haired girl.

"No crush is worth dropping so far out of my comfort zone that I can't even recognize myself."

"I agree." Xeno added. "Just like I told her earlier, if this guy she's got a crush on likes her, he'd want her to be herself."

"Really?" Xion asked. "What about that girl you dated a year or two back? What was her name, Melissa?" Xeno shrugged.

"Melissa enjoyed doing all that stuff. I'm not going to get in the way of something someone enjoys, so long as it isn't harming them in the process. Plus, this isn't about me and my ex. It's about Jessica and this mystery guy."

"Speaking of which, would someone like to fill us in?" Roxas asked. "Who's this guy she's got such a dig for?" Jessica blushed and turned away.

"We can't tell." I said. "She'll just have to tell you herself, as soon as she's ready." A slightly overweight man in a red polo and jeans entered the room.

"Are you all ready to begin?" he asked. "The other team is done with preparations."

"Give us a couple more minutes." Xeno said. "We need to get Ms. Tardy Pants here geared up." He nodded at Jessica. The referee nodded and left. "So what do you think, Roxas? 19? 20?"

"I'd go with a 19." Roxas agreed. "She's a bit taller than Xion and Namine, so she'll need a bit larger."

"Alright." Xeno grabbed a set of gear from the racks and gave it to Jessica. With a little help from Xeno and Xion they got her strapped in and ready to go. A minute later the referee returned to brief us on the rules.

"Okay, everyone. Listen up." The referee said. "This'll be a standard team deathmatch. All you've got to do is aim your gun at the lit targets on your opponents' armor and pull the trigger to shoot. It'll be dark in there, so make sure you keep track of who's who. You all are the red team, and you're facing off against the blue team. If the player's lights are blue, they're hostile. Red is friendly. If you're shot, you're out. Shoot your teammate and they're out. Last team left alive or the team with the most players remaining after ten minutes wins. Everyone understand?" We all nodded. "Okay. Now get in there, and remember to aim for the blue." An automatic door opened into a dimly lit tunnel and we stepped in. The door closed behind us and the lights lowered, leaving us in almost complete darkness. I squeaked when I realized this, but Roxas, who'd stepped in behind me, took my hand in his.

"We're right here, Namine." he said. "Just keep walking forward. I'll guide you from there."

"Why is it so dark?" I heard Jessica ask.

"Sets the atmosphere." Xeno answered. "The darkness makes people a little more jumpy. Screws up their thinking pattern."

"Why?"

"It makes the game more interesting. Players are more likely to shoot at the first thing that moves. It's easier to shoot your team."

"We'll just have to keep ourselves straight then." Xion said. "When we get into the arena we should split up. I'll head for the tower and take a sniping position. Namine and Roxas can cover me. Xeno, you think you can do your thing with Jessica in tow?"

"No problem."

"That's the Silent Vanguard I've come to know." We finally exited the tunnel and came into a darkened circular room. "Okay, the others should be in the arena by now. Let's move out. Namine, Roxas, follow me." Roxas led me towards an offshoot leading deeper into the arena. As we entered the hall the lighting began to brighten so I could see in front of me again. Despite this, Roxas didn't let go of my hand. Not that I was complaining.

'What are you thinking?' I thought to myself. 'You and Roxas are just friends! You aren't supposed to be enjoying this!' Soon we reached a staircase that spiraled up several stories and let off into a room with several large open windows cut into the wall.

"I'll set up here." Xion gestured to the room. "You guys go back down a bit and watch the stairs. I don't want anyone taking me by surprise while I'm shooting." Roxas and I descended the stairs about halfway and positioned ourselves in alcoves on opposite sides of the stairs. The alcoves were far enough apart for us to shoot into the stairs without getting in each other's way, but still close enough for us to communicate in our normal voices.

"RED TEAM! FIRST BLOOD!" A loudspeaker boomed through the room. I jumped at the sudden shout.

"That must've been Xeno at work." Roxas said. "He's probably found where the others holed up. Now they'll start coming our way."

"What makes you say that?"

"Everyone on our team has a role to play." Roxas explained. "Our normal team is a lot bigger, usually seven or eight of the Organization. Xigbar, Xion, Axel, Xeno, and I are the most regular. Xigbar is our normal sniper, who just stands back and shoots from long distances to get points, but he's trained Xion to take over when he can't make it to games. Axel and I usually take this position to guard his back while he's sniping. We call this a Sentinel position. Xeno and Xion are what's called Vanguards. They get in close to the other team quietly and guide them into the sniper's range by constantly shooting at them from concealed positions without actually hitting them. Of course, sometimes it takes a couple of kills to get them moving."

"Wow. That's a lot to keep track of." Roxas shrugged.

"I guess for a beginner it can be. Xion did a good job splitting us up. One experienced player teamed with an inexperienced one balances the positions pretty well."

"Riku and Hayner are trying to circle around the back!" Xion shouted down.

"We got 'em!" Roxas shouted back. He smiled at me. "Time for some action. Just aim for the lit up circles and shoot." I peeked around the corner and caught glimpses of two masses trying to sneak around the base of the tower. They'd reached the base of the stairs and were completely exposed. I raised my gun and shot at the left, while Roxas shot the right figure less than a second later. Unfortunately, both shots missed by mere inches. Both figures looked around in surprise, trying to figure out where the shots had come from. The figure Roxas shot at looked up and caught sight of us. He gestured in our direction and began climbing, followed by the other figure. No sooner had they mounted the steps than Roxas shot over the front person's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. I attempted another shot, but it went wide, hitting the wall next to the front player. "Stay in cover." Roxas said. "Let them come to us. I'll signal you and we'll both shoot them down." I nodded agreement. He held up three fingers. A second later he let one fall, then another a second after that. Then the last finger fell and he nodded. We both jumped out of our concealed positions and shot at the now very close targets. Both our shots hit dead center and I heard a faint buzzing. Now that the two figures were close enough to be seen, I could make out their faces. Hayner and Sora.

"Agh, I guess you guys got us." Hayner pouted.

'Wait...didn't Xion say-' I thought.

"Namine, go get Xion." Roxas said suddenly. He seemed to be following the same line of logic I was. I nodded and ran up the stairs. As soon as I got up to the circular room, I found Xion in the center of the room, hands held up in surrender. Her gun was hanging at her side. Riku was standing in front of her, his back to me, gun poised to fire. Xion caught sight of me, and as I raised my gun to shoot his back target, she shook her head faintly.

"Looks like I've got a prisoner of war." Riku said. "Now what to do with her..."

"Xeno will be here any second. He'll take you down." Xion said.

"I doubt that. He's gonna be a little busy keeping Olette, Kairi, and 'Sora' busy."

"One of them is already down, Riku. And Sora's helping Hayner keep Roxas and Namine distracted. Xeno will figure out the trick soon."

"Not soon enough. Hayner and Sora are taking care of your little guard detail for the time being. All I need to do is pull this trigger and you're down. Then I can go hit the other two from behind. The new girl won't be a problem for us to take out, and then we'll outnumber Xeno."

"Don't bet on it. We aren't losing this, Riku."

"We'll see." Riku raised his gun to shoot Xion's chest. From that three foot range there was no way he'd miss. "You remember our agreement?"

"You win, you get to choose where we go for dinner. I win and I choose."

"Yep. Looks like I get the choice."

"Think again, honey. Namine! Now!" Xion quickly rolled to the side, away from Riku's raised gun. I took a fast aim and fired strait at Riku's back and hit head on.

"Wha-" he started as his gun started to buzz. "Crap, I should have seen that coming."

"You'll be able to one day, so long as you keep going out with me." Xion got up and patted her boyfriend on the shoulder. She turned to me. "How's Roxas?"

"Good to go." I said. "Hayner and Sora are both out."

"That leaves Olette then. Let's get Roxas and find Xeno and Jessica." Leaving Riku to make his way out of the arena, Xion and I headed down the stairs and found Roxas alone.

"Hayner and Sora are on their way back out." he said, answering our unasked question. "Any word on Xeno and Jessica?" Xion shook her head.

"Nothing. I was a bit busy dealing with Riku. He came up the secret path near the east wall. They're around here somewhere."

"RED TEAM! VICTORY!" the loudspeaker shouted.

"There they are." Xion led us back to the chamber where we entered, finding Xeno and Jessica waiting for us.

"Sharp shooting." Roxas said, slapping Xeno on the shoulder.

"Don't look at me." Xeno said, rubbing his shoulder. "I got the first kill on Kairi, but Jessica got Olette when she tried to sneak behind us. She would have taken me down, too. I wasn't paying any attention." Jessica blushed and pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. She had removed her hair from its ponytail so it fell to the middle of her back once again.

"I didn't do anything. I was just watching out for my friends." Xion shot a sly look at her.

"Sure you were." she said. Jessica's blush deepened, and I decided it was time to give her a small life line.

"We should get out of here." I suggested. "The others are probably waiting for us." Everyone agreed and we proceeded through the tunnel back into the waiting room. A worker waiting there help us out of our gear and placed them back on the racks for the next group to use.

"Congratulations." He said, and he showed us back into the lobby. Riku, Sora, Kairi, Olette, and Hayner were waiting there for us.

"Good game guys." Sora said, holding his hand out. Roxas took it and they shook hands.

"You guys weren't half bad yourself. That was a nice plan you had going."

"Not good enough if _you guys_ saw through it." Hayner pouted. Sore loser.

"Hayner, stop whining." Olette said, taking his hand. "Who's up for pizza at Machiavelli's?" Machiavelli's was a pizza shop a few minutes' walk from the school that had some of the best pizza around for really good prices. What's more, Riku's uncle owned it, so we got family discounts every time we went.

"Yeah, let's go!" Kairi cheered.

"Sounds good to me." Sora said immediately after. I giggled. Of course Sora would agree with Kairi. We were in unanimous agreement, so we left the laser tag building to go to our favorite pizza store.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I tried to add as much fluff as I could. Soon I'll be doing a lot more with furthering individual relationships, so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Also, tell me what you think of the chapter, of course.


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